Meet Me At the Vineyard
by coffechick
Summary: Rory and Jess are both in Italy on a foreign exchange trip. Will they meet? Will they fall in love? Will they find new relationships? of course not, it wouldn't be a lit! New chapter posted!
1. Authors Note

Ok, so anyone who read this story when I first started it, I am proud to say that I am finally updating it. But, since I haven't written in such a long time, I thought I should reread it to refresh my mind which then lead to changes and edits and general insanity (not actually due to the story, but due to the fact that I am trying to finish all my work for my last week of classes and study for finals while editing this...and of course the fact that I am in general insane). So I just finished editing all these chapters (#1-12). The next chapter or two should be up in the next couple days and hopefully more from there. I decided to start this in the middle of exams and finals and your basic hell. I promise more frequent updates and hopefully a finished story by mid July. Thanks to anyone who has decided to try this story again, I promise no more 2 year delays!!

For anyone who hasn't read the story, or needs a bit of a refresher, basically: Rory goes to Italy for a year long exchange program. Jess goes too. Will they meet each other? Will they fall in love? Will they stay in Italy forever and ever and have lots of little Italian looking kids? (ohh, wouldn't Jess and Rory have cute little book worm, music freak kids?) Will I stop writing this AN and go back to studying for my finals? All these questions and more will be answered...just go ahead and read the story. One last thing, if you have any ideas of things that you would like to be included in this story...I LOVE IDEAS!!!! I also love reviews, they motivate me, they make my day more enjoyable, they prevent me from killing the little darlings I babysit 5 days a week (who of course I love dearly). So in other words,,,reviews are gonna keep me out of jail.

Stuff to know:

This is definitely lit. because Dean is gross.

I might make it L/L a little but im really not sure

Rory never went to Washington but she did kiss Jess

Nothing past season 2 has happened yet.

Rory and Dean are still together (but not for long)

Rory and Jess are still friends of course with a ton of tension after the kiss

Basically post season 2, season 3 never happened.

Jess may seem a bit out of character...blame it on him growing up, maybe Rory made him change, or maybe I just like to see a mushier side of Jess every once in a while and seeing as this is my story, I think that is allowed. It is fanfiction after all!


	2. Luke the Ballerina and Jess Plays the Bo

Chapter 1

Luke the Ballerina and Jess Plays the Bongo's

"Why how are you Mr. Cheese Fry? Do you like your spot on my plate? Don't get to cozy there because in a few minutes I'm gonna eat you. Right after I finish this burger" a woman says quite loudly, eliciting a few stares from her fellow diner patrons, though, it should be noted that these stares primarily came from those who did not know the woman and understand that this was normal behavior for her.

"Lorelai, would you quit talking your food. Your freaking out my customers" barked a very irritated diner owner.

Rather than pay attention to the man, Lorelai chose a different route. "Luke said freaking! Luke said freaking! Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah!" she cried as she jumped up, stole his hat, and began dancing around the diner. Once she got bored with her song and dance routine (which was very quickly because this woman actually tends to have the attention span of a small child), she sat down and protected her stolen treasure, aka, the baseball hat.

"Rory needs to finish summer school so she can control you. You've been driving me crazy for weeks now." he muttered as he returned to his regular position behind the counter.

"Well my friend, you're in luck. The insanity can all end right now if you just sign this paper. Just one quick signature and you are insanity free...at least for the summer." Lorelai said as she pranced up to the counter.

"Let's see that, what does it say?" a very confused Luke asked.

"Nothing at all, just sign it and I'll be a normal and sane customer for the rest of the summer" was Lorelai's all too innocent reply.

Stealing the paper, and his hat, Luke began to read, "I, Luke Danes, owner of the diner where the fabulous and wonderful Lorelai Victoria Gilmore eats on a daily basis, do hereby grant the aforementioned Lorelai an unlimited supply of coffee, cheese fries, and chocolate pancakes" upon which he was cut off by Lorelai interjecting with,

"Oh chocolate chip pancakes with any topping I so want, did I include that because I really should have included that".

Upon her finish, Luke continued reading, a smirk growing on his face with each word, "in return for the promise on behalf of Lorelai that she will act as normal as the rest of the townspeople act while eating at my restaurant".

"Well now that all the terms are out in the air, why don't you sign it and get me some coffee" she said with a hopeful smile.

Throwing his hands up in the air, Luke exclaimed "One, no one in this town is normal so you saying that you will act as normal as the rest of the town means absolutely nothing, two, you always manage to get as much of those items as you want anyway, and 3, why the hell did you think this would work?"

Walking back to her table, Lorelai replied, "Eh, I really didn't expect it to work. Would have been pretty great if it did though. Just trying to pass the time before Rory got back from Chilton".

Almost as if on cue, Rory Gilmore comes barreling through the diner door, out of breath with a huge smile on her face. "Hey Mom."

"Hey babe, remind me again why you go to summer school if your smart? I tell ya, this is just a crazy world." Lorelai exclaimed as she hugged her daughter.

Rory catches her breath and then begins, "Well it looks good on college applications, gets college credits, and it keeps me in Hartford away from you know who for a good portion of the day."

"Oh yeah." Lorelai replied.

It was unclear whether the "you know who" Rory was referring to was Dean Forrester, her boyfriend or Jess Mariano the boy who just happened to be her friend. Rory had been growing further and further apart from Dean, ever since Sookie's wedding. They still liked each other but the love and fun just wasn't there. Rory found herself constantly trying to spend less and less time with him. However she couldn't help but wonder if the timing of her declining relationship with Dean had anything to do with the fact that she kissed Jess at that wedding. They had resolved to be friends but there was still a lot of stress.

Lorelai cleared her throat, awakening Rory from her train of thought. "So did you have anything else to tell me?" She asked, knowing that Rory was way to excited to have just come from Chilton.

At that Rory perked right up, "Oh yeah, so do you remember at the beginning of the summer when I signed up for that student exchange thing."

Lorelai responded tentatively, "Do you mean the one that chooses two students from Chilton to stay in Italy for one year."

"That's the one." Rory answered. "Well guess what?"

"Um please tell me that your going to say there has been a shift in th universe which has caused Luke to become a professional ballerina, Jess to play the bongo's, and the student exchange program to be canceled." Lorelai said half joking.

Obviously confused Rory replied, "What, how many cups of coffee have you had and what kid of drugs did you put in them?"

"Well I mean my theory would be better than you saying that you are going to be leaving your poor old mother home by herself for an entire year while you go off to Italy." Lorelai said with a trace of worry in her voice.

"Well you always have Luke to keep you company, maybe you can convince him to play bagel hockey." Rory offered.

"Rory! I thought you said that only two people were chosen and there was no chance you would be picked." Lorelai shouted.

Rory tries to comfort her mom, "I didn't think I would get into it. But only 20 people applied and it was based on grades and number of classes taken and an essay and apparently out of that whole combo, my application was chosen. And, just think of it as trial run for when I go away to Harvard."

Lorelai sighs, "I guess I understand, its just that this is going to take a lot of getting used to."

Rory lets outs out a nervous laugh, "Well you're gonna have to get used to it quickly."

"Why?" Lorelai asks hesitantly.

"Well you see Mrs. Laar got the dates mixed up and rather than leaving in two months its two weeks." Rory said, waiting for her moms reaction.

"LUKE!! Coffee! Now!" Lorelai shouted as she slumped down in her chair.


	3. Rumors True and False

Chapter 2

Rumors- True and False

Italics thoughts

Lorelai and Rory are walking down the street. "I can't believe my baby is leaving me alone in 14 days." Lorelai says in an over exaggerated, whiny tone.

"I know. What are you gonna do with me being gone so long?" Rory said, playing along with her mom, knowing full well that this was the only way to keep her from getting truly annoying.

Lorelai thinks about for a minute, and then, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world, replies, "Well duh, I'll just have to drink twice as much coffee to make up for the stuff that you aren't drinking."

"Sounds like a plan, although I'm not to sure that Luke will go for it." Rory says laughing.

"Oh don't worry about that, I can woo him with my charms and beauty and then sneak behind the counter when he isn't looking." Lorelai says.

"Ya know Mom, I know you're just gonna deny it, but I'm pretty sure that you have already wooed Luke." Rory says matter-of-factly.

"Ok, hey look! Is that Kirk in a speedo?" Comes Lorelai's response in an obvious attempt to change the subject. "Nope, I was wrong. Must have been my imagination."

"Then you have a sick and twisted imagination" replied Rory.

Without missing a beat, Lorelai retorted "Ah, well my dearest daughter, I believe my reoccurring smurf and oompa lumpa circus dream proved that theory already."

"That's the one where you're the ringmaster and all your circus freaks stage a strike until you agree to replace the donuts and coffee in their dressing room with carrots and water, right?" asked Rory.

"Eek, stop, you're giving mommy daymares" shuddered Lorelai.

Before Rory could question the vocabulary choice of her mother, the pair was interrupted by none other than the town gossips.

"Oh Rory sweetie, are you ok?" Ms. Patty exclaimed.

"Yeah doll face, we just heard about the break up and figured you must be hurtin." Babette added.

Rory and Lorelai stand there with a stupified expression on their face while Babette continued, "Reminds me of this terrible relationship I was in once, this guy I tell ya he was just . . ."

Lorelai interrupts, "Whoa, stop, rewind, explain. What are you talking about? Rory was there something you forgot to tell me, something about a break up with, um, Dean."

"If I forgot to tell you then Dean forgot to tell me." Rory replied, still in shock.

Clearly puzzled, Ms. Patty says, "Well that's strange."

"Yeah we just saw that two timing jerk outside of the Unicorn Store all over some blonde bimbo." Babette cuts in. "They were practically having sex."

"She asked him if he had a girlfriend but he said that he took care of that." Ms. Patty finished the story.

What Patty said triggered a thought in Rory's head. Last night at abut 11 pm she called Dean and asked him if he wanted to go see a movie the next night, The Ring was playing at 8:00. He said he couldn't because he had to work, but that they should get together around 4:00 at the Gazebo because he wanted to talk about something.

"Mom, what time is it?" Rory asked, realizing that she had almost forgot to go meet with Dean.

"3:50, why sweets? Is everything ok."Lorelai asked, worried that Dean was going to brake her little girls heart again.

"I'm not sure, Dean said he wanted to meet to talk about something. I'm supposed to be at the gazebo in ten minutes." Rory replied with a hint of worry in her voice. She didn't want to let town gossip bother her but she couldn't help it.

"That doesn't sound good" Lorelai spoke aloud the very though running through her daughters mind.

"I don't know, maybe Ms. Patty and Babette were making it up. After all wasn't it just last week that they started a rumor that Lane was pregnant all because there was a lack of gossip." Rory argued, trying to ignore the nagging feeling she had that this time the gossip was true.

"Oh yeah I remember Mrs. Kim got so mad and she couldn't even call Lane to find out if it's true because Bible Camp has no phones. Well I guess you better go meet Dean." Lorelai said.

"OK, hey do you wanna meet at Luke's for dinner." Rory asked trying to put a smile on her face.

"Sure hon, and Ror." Lorelai began.

"Yeah mom."

"Whatever happens, it's for the best." Lorelai said as she gave her daughter a hug.

"Thanks Mom." Rory says as she walks away.

"_Where is he, it's 4;15. He should be here by now. He's never late. Wait maybe, no he wouldn't break up with me. He's Dean. If anything I should be the one to break up with him. Whoa! Where did that come from. I DO love Dean, I DO love Dean, wait why does that sound so forced? Maybe. . . NO!"_

"Rory. . . Rory. . . HEY Rory." Dean has to shout to get Rory's attention.

Startled by the voice Rory jumps, "What!?!?"

"You seemed like weren't fully there for a minute." Dean said sounding impatient.

"Oh I was here. Just thinking. I have a lot of stuff going on lately." She said, trying to push her previous thoughts to the back of her head.

"Care to share?" Dean asked.

"Well I'm going on a student exchange program to Italy. It's a year long." Rory said cheerfully.

Dean isn't quite sure how to respond. "Wow, that great."

"Yeah." Suddenly she remembers why they were there. "You said you wanted to talk to me about something.

With no way to avoid it, Dean gets right to the point. "Well I've been thinking, we've been growing apart for a while now and with you going to Italy this year and then college I think we should probably break up."

Although she was expecting it, Rory was still in shock.

"Come on Rory, don't seem so surprised. You knew this was coming. I mean it's pretty obvious you want Jess, that is if you aren't already dating him." Dean said, getting really angry.

Out of her shock, Rory is now outraged. "I am not dating Jess. We aren't even friends thanks to you and your jealous, overprotectiveness. My god, you are so paranoid. If you even caught me talking to a guy you automatically jump to the conclusion that I am sleeping with him."

"That's not true and you know it" Dean screamed back.

"Oh really, wasn't it just a month ago that we got in a huge fight because you thought I was flirting with Ms. Patty's 300 pound nephew who was obsessed with Pokemon?" Rory yelled, close to tears but unwilling to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

"Well..." Dean is at a loss for words.

Before he can think of something to say, Rory continues, "And you're one to talk. I know all about your girl friend or whatever the hell she is."

"How did you . . ." Dean starts.

"This is Stars Hollow." Roy cuts him off.

"Oh, well, you were never around." Dean says with absolutely no sympathy.

"Listen Dean, here is your car keys." She throws the metal object at him and it hits him right in the eye. As she is storming away she feels cool metal on her arm, looking down she realizes that it is the bracelet. Yanking it off she throws it at Dean, who is rubbing his eye. The bracelet collides with the back of his head causing him to yell and swear. She then continues her run to her mom and the diner, hoping for only for a warm cup of coffee and a shoulder to cry on.


	4. Comfort From a Friend

Chapter 3

Comfort from a Friend

Lorelai is sitting in the diner at the counter. She is talking to Luke, clutching her coffee cup. "Please Lukey, just one more cup."

Luke flat out responds, "No."

"I really need it. Come on I'll tell you a really big secret bout Rory." Lorelai pleads.

"No, and I'll probably hear it from Babette and Patty anyway." Luke responds

Smiling smugly Lorelai informs him, "They don't even know yet."

Even though he didn't usually bother with other people's personal lives, Rory had always been like a daughter to him and curiosity got the better of him. He poured Lorelai a cup. "_Maybe she broke up with that asshole Dean."_

After a large swig of coffee and a dramatic pause Lorelai began, "Rory, my namesake, only daughter...that I know of... the town princess, girl genius"

"lorelai, get on with what you had to tell me or not only am I going to get rid of that coffee, I am also going to start making you eat the carrots that I always include with your burger" a highly annoyed Luke interjected, seriously regretting falling for Lorelai's promise of gossip.

"Fine, fine. Rory is leaving me to go to Italy for a student exchange trip. She is going to be gone for a year" Lorelai ended with a highly overly dramtaic sob.

"Oh." Luke goes back to wiping the counter and clearing plates.

"Oh! Oh! I tell you my baby is leaving me for a year and that's all you have to say. For that I surely deserve more coffee." Lorelai exclaims.

Luke chooses to ignore her and Jess enters the diner for his shift.

"So Jess, how is summer school going?" Lorelai asks in a friendly tone.

Lorelai and Jess had been getting along better since the wedding.

**Flashback**

The day after the wedding, Rory was out with Dean at the movies. She had decided that the kiss meant nothing, and had told Jess just that at breakfast. Jess, unaware that Rory was out with Dean, went to her house expecting to find her there. Instead when he rang the doorbell he was greeted by Lorelai. She knew about the kiss and was less than happy to see the young hoodlum at her door.

"Jess" she said, rather rudely.

Jess on the other hand was just happy that she didn't slam the door in face or worse hit him. "Ms. Gilmore. Is Rory here?"

"No she is out with her boyfriend, a nice guy who would never do anything to hurt her." Lorelai responded and slammed the door.

Jess walked away dejected. Lorelai watched him through the window and in a moment of weakness she began to sympathize with him. Opening the door she called out to him, "Why don't you come on in and have something to eat. Then we can talk."

Jess wasn't quite sure what to say but he decided to go in anyways. "_I hope that this isn't some crazy plan to kill me."_

After he sat down at the table Lorelai got out some cookies and they talked. Jess was very reserved at first but eventually he began to open up. He even admitted to Lorelai that he had feelings for Rory. She told him that the way to a girls heart wasn't through lies and crap. If he wanted Rory respect and someday maybe her love, he would have to clean up his act. The next day he signed up for summer school, quit smoking, and tried to help Luke out. Neither Lorelai nor Jess spoke of it again. If it was ever every brought up or mentioned to other people, each person would have sworn that there was something in the cookies that made them act so unusually.

**End Flashback**

A few minutes later Rory comes running through the door. "Mom they were right" she choked out in between sobs.

"Who was sweets?" Lorelai was slightly confused and then it hit her. "Oh no he broke up with you."

Rory just nods her head as her mom hugs her. Although they don't know it Jess has just heard about Dean. _"That bastard, doesn't he realize what he just gave up. All for some tramp. I bet it was that skank Shane. She just came on to me last week. Figures she would move on pretty damn quickly."_

"Do you need to wallow, how about we get some ice cream and movies?" Lorelai asks.

"I don't really want to wallow mom, I'm not so mad that he broke up with me, but the things he said were jut so terrible." And that was the truth, Rory had been feeling that their relationship was over for a long time, she just wished it had ended on better terms.

Ten minutes later Jess places two plates of food on the table as well as a cup of coffee.

"Wait, did we order?" Rory asked. She had finished her crying several minutes before and really perked up at the site of the cheeseburger.

"No but I heard about Dean and I figured you might want something to cheer you up." Jess says, in a rather sympathetic tone.

"You made me a clown burger." Rory says with a smile on her face.

"Well actually Caesar made the burger I just placed the order." Jess said, reverting back to his 'show no emotions' tone.

"Wait, what smells like chocolate?" Rory asks.

"Uh, I added chocolate to your coffee. The closest you can get to Starbucks in Stars Hollow." Jess answered.

Up until this point Lorelai had sort of been in a daze wondering how Jess could be so nice and how Rory could be so oblivious. However at the mention of chocolate and coffee she perked right up. "Hey I want some chocolate coffee, and where is my clown burger, I'm sad. See." She said, while pretending to be sad.

Jess just ignored her while Roy laughed. The mother and daughter continued to eat their dinner. When they were done Lorelai got up but Rory stayed seated. "Hey Mom, do You mind if I meet you at home. I need to talk to Jess."

Lorelai was a little hurt that Rory didn't want to wallow with her but she knew that she would be in good hands with Jess. "Sure hon, just don't be out to to late."

Lorelai leaves and Rory approaches the counter. Jess s reading a book. "Whatcha reading?"

"Cheaper by the Dozen. Stupid book. I read it in 7th grade but they're making us read it for summer school." Jess replied nonchalantly.

"Yeah I didn't like it that much either. But I'm glad you're going, to summer school that is." Rory said, suddenly wondering if this was the best time to talk to him.

"Yeah it's not to bad, at least it's something to do. Ya know." came Jess' reply.

"Hey can we talk?" Rory asked

"Sure. Walk?" Jess stated more than asked, as he headed out the door, pausing to wait for Rory.

Until they passed Doose's they walked in a semi-comfortable silence. "So" they both said at the same time, followed by a nervous laugh.

"Dean's a jerk." Jess said.

"Yeah, he really is, but just think of it this way now you and I can be friends." Rory said, smiling. "At least that's a plus. And I kind of fell out of love with him."

"Yeah." Jess says, slightly disappointed. "_She just broke up with her boyfriend, she doesn't want to be with you. Stop thinking like that."_

"So what did you want to talk about?" Jess asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Oh yeah, I was chosen to take part in this exchange program. I'm leaving for Italy in two weeks and I stay for an entire year." Rory said, averting her gaze from his eyes, though she had no idea why.

"Really, leaving Lorelai alone for an entire year. How is she dealing with that?" Jess asked.

"Coffee of course" at which point her eyes returned to his.

"Well we have walked around the town twice. So how about we go to a movie or something." Jess said about ten minutes later.

"Oooh can we go see the Ring. I heard it is really scary." Rory cried.

Jess replies, grateful that she actually wants to spend time with him, "K, let's go."

Together they walk toward the theater.

Later the movie has just let out. Both Jess and Rory are walking out, looking extremely frightened.

Rory is the first to talk, "Oh my god Jess that was so scary."

"It really wasn't that bad." He replies snickering.

"Oh really? I heard you scream when she came out of the tv." Rory joked.

"Well at least I had my eyes open through the whole thing." He said referring to the fact that Rory sat through most of the movie with her hands over her face.

"Hey! It was scary." Rory whined.

"Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow, unless you want me to walk you home, ya know, make sure no creepy well-girls come and kill you." Jess said hoping that his joking would cover his nervousness.

"That would be great, actually I was kind of scared of walking by myself." Rory admitted.

"Rory this is Stars Hollow, what is there to be scared of?" Jess asked.

Almost as if on cue, Kirk came walking by, obviously sleep walking, mumbling about donkeys and zombies.

"On second thought, maybe I should walk you home." Jess said, and, noticing that Rory had her arms wrapped around her, offered her his jacket. She gladly accepted.

Walking closer to each other than "just friends" walk, they enjoyed the silence that the late night provided them with. About halfway there Jess reached for Rory's hand and to his amazement she took it. When they got to her house he walked her to her front porch. She gave him a hug. It was filled with love and denial, and it sent shivers up and down her spine. She was confused as to where this was coming from and dismissed it as weirdness after a breakup. She opened her door and stepped inside. Just as he got to the end of the sidewalk h turned around, "Hey Ror, if you ever need anything or just wanna talk, I'm always there for you."

Her response was a simple smile, but it spoke more words than she could ever say. With that he was gone.


	5. Denial

Lane and Rory are walking down the street. Lane, who has just returned from Bible camp, was being updated on all that has gone on by Rory. "I can't believe Ms. Patty and Babette thought I was pregnant." Lane said after Rory told her about the latest gossip.

"I know, they said that Bible camp was just a cover and that you had actually run away from home so that your mom wouldn't kill you." Rory replied, laughing.

"This town is so starved for gossip. So any other big news?" Lane asked.

"Well there was an incident with Kirk cutting the grass by the gazebo and actually mowing the bushes and flowers because he fell asleep, I'm going to Italy in less than two weeks but you already know about , oh and Dean and I broke up." Rory said, the last part being said very quietly in hopes that Lane wouldn't quite catch what she said. She really didn't want to get into the whole story again.

Unfortunately for Rory, Lane had very good ears, possibly because of all those years she spent listening to make sure her mother wouldn't catch her listening to real music. "Wait, what did you say, you broke up with Dean. This is great, he was such a jerk. Wait this means now you can be with Jess."

"Uh, actually Dean broke up with me. And you're right, he is a jerk. He was cheating on me and somehow managed to make it seem as if I was the untrustworthy one." Rory said. "And I only like Jess as a friend" she added as an after thought.

"Listen Ror, don't worry about Dean. I gotta get home or Momma Kim is gonna kill me." Lane said. "I wanna know all the details, come by tomorrow at like two, my mom is helping at our church bake sale. Oh and you totally like Jess. As more than a friend." She ran off before Rory could argue the point any further."

Later that night Lorelai and Rory are standing outside the Gilmore house. It's Friday night and they are there for dinner. "So are you going to tell grandma about Italy tonight?" Lorelai asked.

"I think they already know." Came Rory's reply.

"What!?!? You told them. I wanted to see them give you all the tips on places to see. I'm sure my mother knows some family in Italy who just happens to have a son your age. She'd probably try to fix you up with him. Oh! This is their year for a trip to Europe so they'll probably want to come and visit you. It would have been so fun to have you go through torture at dinner rather than me." Lorelai says, obviously disappointed.

"Gee thanks mom. By the way remember how Grandma tends to know things before we actually do. Does the name Bitty Charleston ring a bell?" Rory said sarcastically.

"Oh yeah. God what is wrong with this damn doorbell? Is it broken" Lorelai asked looking frustrated.

"No you just haven't rung it yet." Rory says. By now she is used to her mothers tricks to get out of Friday night dinner.

"Wrong answer. Your supposed to say 'They must not be here. We can leave now.' " Lorelai says, imitating Rory's voice.

Rory is getting slightly annoyed, "Ok, I don't sound like that at all and if you won't ring it, I will." With that she rung the bell.

In a mock pout Lorelai says, "Cruel, evil daughter of mine."

"Hey, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Rory retorts.

Before Lorelai can respond the door is opened and the maid let's them in. "Mrs. Gilmore is waiting for you in the living room." Shana said.

The two girls went into the room where they saw Emily Gilmore sitting on the couch, with a devilish smile on her face, "So, Rory I want you to tell me all about this trip. Oh girls this is going to be a fun night."

Several hours later the girls emerge from the house, yawning and looking bored. "I can't believe she talked for three and a half hours." Lorelai said.

"I know, I thought she was done but then she had to go and find those damn travel books." Rory responded.

"Come on, let's go to Luke's. I need coffee." Lorelai said, getting into the car.

"I cannot believe that Luke has never seen any Disney movie. He must have had the most messed up childhood ever." Lorelai said. Somehow, while at the diner, Lorelai and Rory started referencing Disney movies to a very confused Luke. Obviously this prompted the aforementioned revelation. "Ya know, that is obviously a sin and we must repent." Lorelai said slowly.

"Wait, if Luke did the wrong thing why do we have to make up for it?" asked a very confused Rory.

"Honey, have you learned nothing? Don't question me, just accept my ideas and move on." Lorelai stated matter-of-factly. "Now, to the video store. We need to get Alice in Wonderland, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Peter Pan is a definite..." Lorelai listed as she began walking away.

Wondering aloud, Rory said "Geeze, we should really just start buying these movies. We rent them so often"

The next morning, Lorelai left early for work. Upon waking up to an empty house, Rory wandered around until she found a note on the table from her mom.

_Hey Hon,_

_Went to work. Be back around 5. If you need the car for anything just stop by the Inn. _

_Mom_

"_So I'm home alone_. _I have to go see Lane at 2, but other than that I have nothing to do._" Rory thought as she proceeded to get ready.

Around noon, she headed over to Luke's for lunch. After he took her order, she pulled out a book and began to read, getting completely engrossed in the words in front of her as usual.

"Return of the Native. Not too bad, but it doesn't really seem like the kind of book you would read." Jess said, in his typical sarcastic tone.

"No, it typically isn't. Paris told me it was good and I figured I'd try it." Rory replied, giving Jess a smile. "So what are you doing today."

"Working" Jess responded.

"_What happened?" _Rory wondered. "_The other day he was so nice, now he's being so mean_."

"_God, why can't I just talk normal to her. I thought we were making progress and now I have to go and blow it." _Jess thought to himself.

"Well if you don't need anything I've got other customers." Jess said.

"Fine." Rory was usually polite, but she couldn't stand when Jess go like this.

Jess went and refilled some coffee's and then Luke sent him on his break. Up in his room he continued to remind himself of what an idiot he had been. "_Why can't I just be normal around her. I know, it's because she's leaving for a year. Just as I was beginning to open up to her_ _she has to leave. Everyone who I have ever tried to get close to leaves. Why would she be any different? So why even bother trying to get her to like me if she is just going to leave. Oh shit I gotta get back downstairs." _

Later that day at the inn, Sookie and Lorelai are in the kitchen discussing a crisis.

"Hon, don't worry. All couples fight once in a while. It happens, you get by." Lorelai was trying her best to calm a very worried Sookie.

"But this was a big one. He said. . .he said I'm a hazard in the kitchen." As she says this she gestures with her arm, causing one of the waiters, Jack, to back up and bump right into one of the other waiters, Brad. Somehow, though no one will ever be able to explain it, Brad's apron catches fire and Jack must throw a pitcher of iced tea on it to prevent a serious accident.

Seeing this scene Sookie has a change of heart. "Maybe I should go talk to Jackson."

"That might be a good idea." Lorelai responds.

"So are you ready to let Rory leave? Less than a week, right." Sookie asks.

Burying her head in her hands Lorelai says, "Don't remind me. I'm gonna be so lonely."

"Well you know there is always Jackson and me, oh an of course Luke." Sookie says with a devilish grin.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lorelai says.

"I think you know."

"Sookie!!"

"Oh hey I think that's Jackson delivering the vegetables. I have to go talk to him. Bye!!" Sookie runs off.

Lorelai sits there at the counter clearly puzzled.


	6. Chapter 5

Rory was reading in her room, well more like she was trying to read. Her mind was actually racing with thoughts and she found herself rereading the same sentence over and over and still getting nothing from it. It was like someone plugged to many things into her brain and she was short circuiting. She kept remembering all those sly little remarks that her mom and Lane made about her and Jess. Then she wold remember that she just broke up with Dean and should she sad about that. "_Why would they think that I liked Jess. I mean yeah sure we kissed. Big deal. We both agreed that it was the wrong thing. I'm with Dean, no, wait, I was with Dean. And there was no denying it, there were sparks in that kiss. But then again, it may have just been the excitement of kissing someone I know I can't be with. Wait, again, I keep forgetting that technically, if I wanted to I could be with him. That is if he wanted to be with me, which is highly doubtful especially after today. Why am I thinking like this, of course I don't want to be with Jess. We're just friends and that's all. We'll never be anything more and I am ok with that. Why would I want more? We would eventually break up and then we would lose the great friendship that we have. God I have got to stop eating fundip, it definitely makes me think crazy thoughts. I like Jess as a friend, really that's all."_ Rory finished, barely convincing herself.

Just then the front door opened. "Hey hon, I'm home. But not for long. There was this big problem at the Inn. We lost power because Kirk was digging a hole in the back to fix a gas line and there was this whole big scene." Lorelai said, walking into Rory's room.

Rory was still caught up in her crazy thoughts and was utterly confused by what her mother was telling her. "Wait, backup a sec. Kirk was digging?"

"Oh yeah, apparently he is the local representative for the gas company. He also apparently never got proper training. First he hit the gas line, then the sprinkler system, and while they were fixing that they hit the electricity. There is complete chaos at the Inn, we have to reset all the clocks, computers, televisions, just about everything that runs on electricity. And there is a minor flood out back. I'll probably be there into the morning. Just came home to get towels and a change of clothes."

"Wow, sounds exciting. So I guess that means I'm on my own for dinner?" Rory asked.

"Wait Rory it's 8 already. You haven't eaten dinner? I thought you were my daughter." Lorelai asked, clearly shocked.

"I ate some poptarts and fundip an hour ago. Then I started reading and I figured we were gonna get something to eat when you got home, which you never did." Rory responded.

"I'd love to join you for dinner but I really have to get back to the inn. When the gas went out I think Sookie almost passed out. It was right before the dinner rush. Luckily we have like one electric stove for backup." Lorelai said, laughing as she remembered Sookie's semi-panic attack.

"No problem, I'll just go to Luke's. By the way, do you know why Jess is acting so strange?" Rory asked. She knew that the brooding young diner boy and her mother had been getting along lately and wondered if her mom might provide any insight.

"I assume you mean stranger than usual. That boy is pretty damn strange to begin with. He seemed fine when I saw him this morning. I would go talk to him if you are really concerned." Lorelai had a feeling Jess' sudden change of behavior might have something to do with the upcoming departure of her daughter, not that she would say anything. Subtle hints were more her style. Oh, who was she kidding, neon flashing signs were more her style but she figured that this situation warranted some subtlety.

"Yeah, maybe." Rory replied, wondering if her mom knew more than she was letting on. Her mom wasn't usually to good at keeping secrets, but whenever the topic of Jess came up, Lorelai became very elusive.

"Well, bye then. I'll most likely see you tomorrow morning. Breakfast at Luke's?" Lorelai asked. It had been so long since she and Rory had had a chance to have breakfast together. It would be a nice change. "Oh yeah and make sure you aren't doing anything Wednesday, because we are definitely going shopping for your trip. It will be like our last thing before you leave on Friday. Then we can have a movie night, all the classics, Willy Wonka, Grease, and of course Lady and the Tramp because they eat in an Italian restaurant and you are going to Italy."

"Ok mom. Sounds good." Rory replied, laughing at her mom's theories.

Lorelai came over, gave her a hug, and left. Rory then got up, brushed her hair, and put on her jacket, heading out to Luke's.

On her short trip her head was still racing with thoughts, not so much about boys, but about her trip. "_I can't believe I am going to Italy for a year. A whole year. In Italy. WOW!!! This is insane. I am gonna miss mom so much. Especially movie nights and talking about boys. Maybe with me gone she will turn to Luke. I know it, hell everyone in town sees their flirtatious banter. Except of course for those two. Maybe I'll meet some cute Italian boy with wavy black hair and gorgeous eyes. He has to be very reserved, bookish, mysterious. Someone I can definitely relate to." _Rory arrived at the diner before she realized it. She walked inside and ordered, never realizing that the mysterious Italian guy she described was basically the spitting image of Jess Mariano.

After eating her dinner she went up to the counter to pay. Much to her disappointment Jess never came down once. After paying she questioned Luke about this. "Hey Luke, is Jess around. I kind of wanted to talk to him."

"Actually I haven't seen him in about an hour. He went out for a walk. It wasn't to busy so I said he could have the rest of the night off." Luke replied. "He headed towards the bridge I think."

"Thanks Luke." Rory said quickly and left the diner. She continued down the path that would take her to the bridge, their bridge. It had so many memories. She wondered why he was there.

When she got there she saw Jess' distinct figure sitting on the side. His feet were obviously dangling off and he was hunched over, as if he were reading something.

Not wanting to scare him Rory began to talk before she even got on the bridge. "Luke said you might be here."

"Oh." Came his reply.

"What's bothering you?" Rory asked, sensing that something was wrong.

"Nothing." He muttered.

"Come on Jess I know something is going on. Why can't you tell me?" Rory said, upset that he couldn't share his problems with her. "I told you about the whole Dean fiasco and you really helped me. I just want to do the same for you."

"Damn it Rory. This isn't the same. Why can't you just leave me alone? I don't need you around. You couldn't help me, you wouldn't understand." Jess shouted. He didn't mean for it to come out so mean, but it did. He regretted it but he couldn't take it back.

"Oh yeah, try me. How do you know I can't help you if you won't let me try?" Rory was near tears, but she was fighting them back.

"Fine Rory, I don't want you to go. We were just getting close and now you are leaving. Every time I get close to someone they leave. It's like I am the plague and everyone wants to get away from me before I disease them." Jess said, shouting louder.

"Jess that's not true." Rory said, shocked by his words.

"Oh yeah, did I ever tell you I have a sister? Briana is 15. She's back in New York. Same mom, different dad. She came to live with us when she was 14. At first we really didn't like each other, but eventually we realized that if we didn't look out for each other, no one else would. I mean Liz was too busy with her boyfriend to really care for us the way a mother should. We became really close and then the next thing you know I get in trouble and get sent away to Stars Hollow. I haven't seen Briana since. We talk online once in a while. She is miserable there but there is nothing she can do." Jess says, clearly upset.

At first Rory has no idea what to say. Eventually she regains control of her vocal chords. "Wow. Jess I had no idea."

"Its not your fault. I don't really tell the story often. It's not that I want you to stay in Stars Hollow, it's just that you leaving has brought up all these memories." Jess said, ashamed that he took all his anger out on Rory. He had been trying so hard not to do that anymore.

Rory was shocked, "I didn't even know you had a sister. That must be hard leaving her."

"It was but I know she will do fine. She was really mature and everything." He said.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Rory asked, unsure of what to say.

"No." And the old Jess was back, one word answers and all.

"Ok." Rory said.

"But thanks." Jess added, a little bit of softness coming through in his tone.

"Well I better get going back home. I still have to do some homework for Chilton and I'm kind of tired." Rory said, getting up to leave.

"K, do you want me to walk you home?" Jess asked, hoping she would let him.

"Um, sure." Rory said without much hesitation.

Together they walked back to the Gilmore house. He dropped her off at her door and made sure that she got in. Then he returned to the diner.

The next few days passed in a blur. Rory and Lane spent Monday afternoon walking around the town, talking and eating the candy that Mrs. Kim never let her daughter have. On Tuesday afternoon, Rory and Jess went to Hartford to a bookstore. They then went to a park and read their books. They did this simply as friends. Finally it was Wednesday. Rory no longer had to go to Chilton, the summer work program had ended for her. She was going to spend the day at the mall with Lorelai.

"So we definitely need to hit Express, H&M, Old Navy, Charlotte Russe, American Eagle, where else?" Lorelai was bouncing up and down in her seat as the waited at a red light. She was obviously very excited. "Remember Grandma gave us her credit card and told us to buy a ton of pretty clothes."

"First of all I'm pretty sure she meant the clothes to be for me, and second of all how come she isn't coming with us. Not that I really want her to but I'm just wondering why she didn't?" Rory asked.

"Well she had some big DAR thing at her house tonight and she had to get ready for it. And seeing as we both wear basically the same size, and I am your mother who gave birth to you, a long painful birth might I add, your clothes are my clothes. So that means my clothes are your clothes, which obviously means that I can buy some clothes for me as long as we say they are for you. Do you understand?" Lorelai said.

"Uh sure Mom, of course I do." Rory said, although she was not quite sure if she did.

They arrived at the mall about a half hour later. They bought quite a few outfits. Rory's favorite was the bright pink sun dress with spaghetti straps that she got for Italy. It would be perfect for dinner or a dance. She couldn't wait to wear it. They ate lunch and dinner at the food court. By the time they got back to Stars Hollow it was almost 8 and they were exhausted. Rory wanted to start on her packing so she went to her room while her mom went to get coffee from Luke's, the movies, and junk food.

At about 10 Rory was still trying to pick out what clothes to bring. Like her mom she was definitely an over packer. "_I wonder how many suitcases I'm allowed to bring? Maybe Mom can send me some clothes. That's it, I'll have her send me clothes. Okay so now all I have to do is find a really big box. Wait, what is that? I think I heard a noise outside." _Rory went to look at the window, she swore she heard a person walking in the bushes.

When she looked out she saw nothing, that is until she looked a little harder and saw a shadowy figure creeping out of the bushes. "_Who is that?"_ Rory asked herself.

Just then Lorelai Gilmore stood up. She emerged from the bushes with leaves stuck to her shirt. Before she could enter the door, Rory opened it. "Mom what are you doing?"

"Well I was going to unlock the door when Snowflake, Babette's nasty cat, ran past me and hissed, and I got all scared so I threw the keys a it. But seeing as I have no aim I missed and they fell in the bushes. So I went in there to look for them and I hit my head on the side of the house." Lorelai said as she picked twigs off her shirt.

"You do know that I didn't lock the door, right." Rory asked, laughing.

"Oh you are evil." Lorelai said while giving her daughter a scary glare. "So I got the movies, Willy Wonka, Grease, and Lady and the Tramp. They were all out of Red Vines so I got extra Milk Duds, Nerds, Marshmallows, Twix, Sour Patch Kids and Cookie Dough to make up for it. Then I found the Red Vines and decided to keep all this crap and get the Red Vines too. Are you ready?"

"Yeah, just give me two minutes." Rory said as she got out her pj's.

For the rest of the night they watched movies. After watching Lady and the Tramp, which they saved for last, Lorelai insisted that they make spaghetti. At that point Rory had consumed so much sugar and caffeine that she would have agreed to just about anything. So together they tried to make the pasta.

"Ok, so now we have to boil the water." Rory said, reading the directions of the back of the spaghetti box.

Looking at the stove and the pan of water with a blank stare, Lorelai turned to Rory, "Ok, boil water. Um, Ror which knob do I turn to start that burner?"

Reaching over to the stove, Rory quickly turned on the burner. "Now we just have to wait for the water to boil, add the macaroni, and then we are done."

"Oh no, your forgetting the sauce, you can't have real Luigi's spaghetti without the sauce." Lorelai declared.

"Well seeing as we don't have any idea how to make sauce, is it possible that we have any in the house?" Rory asked.

"I think we do, because one day I was at Doose's and they had a sale and I thought "Hmm,maybe I'll try cooking pasta when I get home." Then when I got home I saw the menu for Chinese out on the counter and I forgot about the sauce." Lorelai said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Rory went into the cabinet and after some searching found the sauce. "Are you sure this is good?"

"Of course its fine, sauce is like bottles of water, they never expire." Lorelai stated.

They continued to cook the macaroni. The water boiled and they added the macaroni. Of course then Lorelai got bored and she and Rory went to eat the rest of the Red Vines while they waited for the food to cook.

"Rory, do you smell that?" Lorelai said after about twenty minutes.

"Yeah it smells like burning stuff." Rory said as she sat up.

Both of them look at each other and run into the kitchen. They look in the pan and find that all the water has evaporated and the macaroni is burning. After throwing all the pans in the sink, they decided to just give up and go to bed.


	7. Surprises

The next day Emily and Richard called Rory to come over. They said they had some stuff to give her for her trip. "Hey Mom, Grandma and Grandpa wanted me to come over to their house. Can I borrow your car?" Rory asked her mom at lunch.

"Sure hon, just drop me off at the Inn." Lorelai said.

"K. I'll go pay, then we can go." Rory said, getting up.

When they arrived at the Inn, Sookie dragged them inside to test out dessert options for the fourth of July. Being that it was Sookie, she had about a dozen options and Rory just got out with enough time to make it to Hartford by noon when her grandparents were expecting her.

"Hello, Mrs. Gilmore is waiting for you." Shana said as she opened the door for Rory. She took her coat and led her to the living room.

"Hi Grandma. How are you?" Rory asked as she sat down.

"I'm good Rory. How are you? Are you excited about your trip?" Emily asked, getting Rory a drink.

"I'm good grandma. Actually I am kind of nervous about it. I have never been so far away." Rory said as she took a sip of her Coke.

"Oh you'll do wonderful. I love Italy. It is so beautiful." Emily said.

Rory was wondering why she was asked to come here, her mom had been very sketchy with the details. "So grandma, mom said you wanted me to stop by."

Emily put down her glass of tea and began, "Oh yes, your grandfather and I just wanted to say goodbye to you. Your mother told us that you were leaving tomorrow so we would not have seen you at dinner Friday. Grandpa is in his study. Come on."

Rory followed her grandmother in to the study, perplexed by what was going on. "_Why would they call me here in the middle of the day to say goodbye."_

"Oh Rory, you're here. Wonderful. Sit." Her grandfather said upon seeing Rory in his doorway.

"Richard, I'm going to make sure the food is set up in the kitchen." Emily said as she left the room.

"Wait, what food?" Rory asked, completely confused.

"Well we decided that if you couldn't come to dinner tomorrow we would have you for a lunch." Richard said smiling.

Just then Shana came into the room. "Mr. Gilmore, Ms. Gilmore, lunch is ready in the kitchen."

They got up and went into the kitchen. Emily, Richard, and Rory talked for about an hour and a half. When they were done Rory got ready to leave. "Well I'm gonna go home now. Thanks so much for lunch." She gave her grandparents a hug.

"Okay Rory. We'll call you before you leave tomorrow. Have fun." Emily said as she and Richard walked Rory to the door.

"Bye" Rory said.

She got into the car and started her trip home. She never noticed the car that was following her the whole way back to Stars Hollow. When she got back to her house she was surprised to see that people were there. "_Its only three, why is mom home. Wait why are there people in the house?"_

"Hi Mom, I'm home!" Rory said as she entered the house. What's every. . ."

"SURPRISE!!!" Shouted a whole crowd of people in her living room.

"Hey hon, welcome to your surprise going away party. Everyone in town came, even Luke and Taylor." Lorelai said as she walked up to her daughter and gave her a hug.

For the rest of the night Rory talked with all of her friends and other people from the town. Emily and Richard showed up shortly after Rory, as they had been following her from Hartford. Jess was there but she was so busy talking to all the other guests they barely even got to say anything other than hi to each other. Everyone, although Lorelai told them not to, brought gifts. After the party Lorelai and Rory opened the together. Ms. Patty gave her a book of the top strip clubs in Italy. Babette and Morey gave her a ceramic cat that was rowing a gondola. There was some useful things, however the majority of the gifts were very random. Still Rory knew they meant a lot to her as well as the people who gave them to her.

"Hey Ror, I think you missed one." Lorelai said as she handed her daughter a rectangular shaped gift.

Knowing instinctively who it was from, Rory immediately opened it. She found Jane Eyre inside. The book immediately brought back memories.

**Flashback three weeks ago**

It was one of the few free moments that Rory had to herself. School had been cancelled that day because there had been a water leak. Dean was at work and her mom was at the Inn. She had gone to the Diner for lunch and was just finishing eating. All of a sudden Jess sat down in the seat across from her. "I need your help." He said plainly.

"Maybe you should try acting nicer." Rory replied, also in a flat tone.

"Fine, Rory, please, pwetty please would you help me." Although he was trying to sound nice, he still ended up sounding more sarcastic.

However, since Rory had nothing else to do, she figured it couldn't hurt to at least see what he needed. "Fine, what do you need?"

"We're reading Jane Eyre in summer school and we have a test tomorrow. I read it, I swear I did, I'm just having some serious trouble understanding it." He said.

"Well you're in luck, Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books. I just hope you have a copy. Cuz you see I had a copy at one point, but then I went to a sleep over one night in ninth grade and my mom was home alone. Well she saw a millipede or a caterpillar or something on the wall and my book just happened to be the closest object to her at the time. She squished the bug and the book got all gross so she threw it out. Which is really sad because like I said, that is such a good book." Rory said, laughing a little as she remembered the story.

"Ok so then will you meet me upstairs in say ten minutes. I just gotta talk to Luke and then I'll get you some coffee." Jess said, delighted that Rory was going to help him. He especially loved the fact that this was a book that she was passionate about. Whenever she talked about something she really liked, her whole body just became animated.

They met upstairs and studied the book for three hours. Jess promised to lend Rory the book once he finished the test on it. However that promise was soon forgotten, at least by Rory.

**End Flashback**

"_So he actually kept his promise." _Rory thought to herself with a smile. She looked through the book and was thrilled to find all his little notes and thoughts in the margins. She loved to read books that he read, especially because they gave her an inside perspective of what goes on in is mind. She decided to read it on the plane, then she would have the time to really enjoy it.

Returning to the room, Lorelai asked her daughter, "So who was it from, what was it?"

"It was just a book mom." Rory said.

Immediately disappointed, Lorelai was never really the one to consider a book to be a gift, she replied, "Oh. Well are you almost done packing because you are gonna have to get up early tomorrow."

"Yeah, I just have a few more things to stick in, but I can do that in the morning. I'm really tired I think that I'm gonna go to bed." Rory said as she walked over to give her mom a hug.

"Wait hon, I still have to give you my gift." Lorelai said as she handed Rory a box, wrapped in the comic section of the newspaper.

"Mom, you really didn't have to." Rory said as she held the gift in her hand.

"Well it was gonna be for your birthday but I figured I might as well give it to you now, seeing as how you aren't going to be in the country on your birthday."

Rory opened the gift and found a digital camera in it. "Oh my god mom, thank you so much. I can't believe it. This is amazing! Wow! This is to much. You really didn't have to."

"Yes I did, like I said, it's an early birthday present. Now you have to promise me that you send me pictures everyday. You have your laptop so there is no excuse." Lorelai said as she hugged Rory.

"Thanks mom."

"No problem kiddo. Now get to bed."

Lorelai left the room and both went to bed, each were feeling apprehension and excitement about the following day.

The next morning Rory awoke to the sounds of her mothers singing, or make that her very off key singing. "Wake up, little Susie wake up"

"Mom, Mom, Mom, you need to stop. Like now. I mean it." Rory said, screaming over her mom's voice.

"Fine, fine, I'm stopping." Lorelai said, throwing up her arms in defeat. "So get up, you have to finish packing, we have to go to Luke's, and then we have to walk around the town talking about absolutely nothing until it's time for your plane to leave." Lorelai said, pulling her daughter out of bed.

Knowing it was no use Rory gave in and got up. After she was dressed and finished packing, she and Lorelai went to Luke's. It was the last time they would be going there together for a year.

After Luke's and their two hour walk around the town, Rory went to say good bye to some people. She stopped at Sookie's first. She received two bags of cookies, jam, and some turkey. Then she went to Lane's.

"Wow, Mrs. Kim must be glad that I'm leaving. She told me I could stay for an hour." Rory said as she entered Lane's room.

"Oh Rory, I'm gonna miss you so much." Lane said, hugging her best friend. "Here, I didn't give you this last night because I thought that it might get lost."

Lane handed Rory a variety of Disney songs on c.d. With the explanation that the songs are all about basically crazy, but lovable nevertheless, characters. So they should remind Rory of Stars Hollow and all the people who are gonna miss her. They two of them talked for an hour and finally Mrs. Kim had to chase Rory out.

"Write me, send emails to me through your mom. Stay in touch." Lane said giving her friend one last hug.

The last person to visit was Jess. She went into the diner and Luke told her that he was upstairs.

Knocking tentatively on the door, she waited for Jess to let her in. Finally he came to the door.

"Hi." She said as he let her in.

"Hey." He said avoiding her eyes.

"I just wanted to say goodbye. My flight leaves tonight." She said, also avoiding his eyes.

"Yeah, I know." He said. "Do you want something to drink?"

"No, I really can't stay long. I just wanted to say goodbye, and let that you know I'm gonna really miss you." With that Rory embraced Jess in a hug.

Although at first taken back by this show of affection, Jess decided to hug her back. The hug was filled with so much emotion, friendship, more than friendship, love, denial, and most importantly, it was the hug of two people who didn't want to be separated. "I have to go now, but I'll email you."

"K." Jess said.

Rory began to walk out the door, but Jess stopped her. "Rory, wait."

"What?" She said, turning around.

"I'm gonna miss you to." He said, his voice full of emotion.

Rory didn't know what came over her, all of a sudden she was standing in front of Jess, inches away from his lips. Then just as quickly she kissed him on the lips, quickly but passionately. "That wasn't a mistake." she said, just in case he was wondering. Before she left she handed him a note, she had wrote it last night and wasn't sure if she wanted to give it to him or not. The kiss, however, helped him make his decision.

Before he could say anything she was gone. She got in her mom's car and was on her way to the airport. She was so precuupied by all the feelings rushing through her head while she was in the apartment that house never even noticed the two half full suitcases on his bed. It was about an hour drive and Lorelai talked to her for the entire time.

At the airport, Rory met with Mrs. Laar and the other student who was going, Jerry Smith.

They got all their bags checked in and received all the information on where they would be staying. Jerry was in Northern Italy, while Rory would be staying at the Marinetti's in Southern Italy.

The plane was going to leave in one hour and they had to get to their gate soon.

"Bye babe. I'm gonna mis you so much. Remember what I said about writing, and calling, and emailing. If you can swing it, send me messenger pigeons. That would be pretty cool...meeting an Italian bird." Lorelai said as she latched onto Rory, hugging her tightly.

"Mom, you need to let go of me now." Rory said, trying to catch her breath.

Lorelai finally let go and she and Rory said their final goodbye's.

Rory walked down the hall of the airport towards her flight. Lorelai watched her daughter with sadness, realizing that her baby was growing up.


	8. Jess's Chapter

Jess sat in Luke's truck, waiting patiently until they reached their destination. "_I wonder what that letter says?"_ It had only been an hour since the kiss and Rory's departure from Star's Hollow. He knew he should have read the letter immediately. In fact part of him was telling him that he was stupid not to. However he had a long trip in front of him and he wanted to save the letter for a time when he could analyze it. He just hoped there was something to analyze.

"So do you have all your stuff?" Luke asked Jess for about the hundredth time.

"Yup." Came Jess's answer, the same answer as it had been every other time.

"Right, you told me that already. So they still haven't told you where you are going?" Luke asked, looking over towards Jess.

"No, I find out when I get to the airport and get my ticket." Jess replied. "I don't even know what continent I'm going to."

Jess was referring to the fact that he was chosen for a student exchange program offered through summer school. It was similar to the program that Rory was in. At the beginning of second semester his teacher had told them to write a creative writing paper on what their dream vacation would be. Jess's obvious first response was anywhere out of Stars Hollow. However once he began to write he found that this paper was actually something he enjoyed. He wrote about how he would love to go to Europe to see all the famous sights and the history, and of course, Jim Morrison's grave. His teacher handed it back to him the next day with a big red A on top. Jess did not know at the time but this paper was part of an elimination process to ultimately choose two or three students who would live with another family for a year. His paper was one of the best his teacher had seen but unfortunately grades were a big part of the program as well. It was not until his last marks were submitted for summer school that he was eligible for the trip. His teacher had notified him the day before and he figured with Rory gone, he would have nothing better to do.

So that was how he found himself in Luke's truck, on the way to Hartford Airport. He had no idea where he was going and he figured there was no chance of him ever seeing Rory.

Finally they reached the airport. His teacher, Mr. Sullivan was meeting him the baggage check so that he could get his ticket and check in. His plane didn't leave for two hours but since this was an international flight he had to arrive really early. "Hey Mr. Sullivan." Jess said shaking his teachers hand. In the time that he had been at Stars Hollow, Mr. Sullivan had been the only teacher who ever even acknowledged Jess as more than a trouble maker. He was always offering him extra credit and words of encouragement. He was the one who had assigned the paper.

"Hi Jess." He said, then realizing that Luke was there, "Oh wow, Luke Danes, its good to see you."

"Rob? Hi! How are you? When did you come back to Stars Hollow?" Luke says and the two give each other a "manly hug."

Jess looks on at the two in obvious confusion. Luke sees this and realizes that he should probably explain. "Jess, Rob was my best friend in high school. He moved in the middle of senior year. I haven't seen him since."

"Yeah, I just got back to Stars Hollow a year ago. I was teaching in Chicago for a while but I wanted to go back to the small town atmosphere." Rob said. "Listen Luke I'd love to stay and catch up but I gotta get Jess his tickets and go over some procedures with him. But how about we meet up sometime. We could go out to dinner. I know my wife would love to meet you. How about you, do you have someone?"

"Uh no actually I don't, but I might be able to bring along my friend." Luke said, not quite sure why he thought Lorelai would even agree to go with him. Oh well he could always bribe her with coffee.

"Sure that sounds good. How about you call me and we can figure something out." Rob said as he wrote his number down on a piece of paper.

"Ok." Luke agreed.

"Well I'm sure you want to say goodbye to Jess so I'll be right back." Rob said as he turned to go to the bathroom.

"So that was pretty weird." Luke aid, trying to avoid the whole goodbye thing.

"Yeah." Jess said in a monotone voice.

"Well I guess I'll see you in a year." Luke said, obviously uncomfortable.

"Yeah." Jess replied.

"Call me and let me know where you are staying. Oh and here I got you something. I'm really proud of the way you turned your act around, Jess. You did a good job." Luke said as he handed him a box.

"Thanks Uncle Luke. For everything." Jess replied.

The two hugged each other, once again it was a "manly hug".

Luke was walking away just as Rob was returning. "So Jess are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, just where exactly is it that I'm going?" Jess asked.

"Ah, that you find out when we get to the gate. I like to keep my students in suspense. Now how about you get your bags checked in." Rob said as he and Jess walked towards the counter.

"All right. Hey what about the other kids. I heard there were three total." Jess wanted to know if he would be near anyone he knew, although he wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to be.

"Oh they had a different flight that left yesterday. They both went to Germany." Rob said.

After getting his bags checked in and making it through security they began walking towards the gate. "Ok Jess do you want to know where your going." Rob asked, trying to sound like a game show host.

"Uh sure." Jess replied, seriously wondering about how sane his teacher was.

"Well here is your ticket." Rob said handing Jess an envelope.

Jess opened it up and looked inside. The destination printed on the ticket read Roma Airport. Rom. . . oh wait, you mean I'm going to Rome." Jess asked, beginning to get exited. "_Don't be stupid, Italy is a big place, they probably won't send two people there."_

"Actually you are going to a little town called Pratola to be exact but Rome is the closest airport. So what do you think?"

"Wow, that was actually the place I really was hoping I would go to." Jess replied.

"Good. So now before your plane leaves we have to go over some rules, general things about the people you will be staying with, stuff like that.

For the next half hour, Rob explained to Jess several things. He was to go to school all year. It was an American school so he would take American tests, including the SAT's. He could apply to college just as he would have done in Stars Hollow. He was staying with the Molino family. They were a husband and wife with a three year old daughter. Jess was also given a bunch of papers on the culture of Italy, which Mr. Sullivan assured him was very modern ad up to date, so that he would not be as shocked when he got there.

Finally Rob was finished talking and he had to leave. Jess had about ten minutes before the plane would be boarding. He said goodbye and got out his papers to read. Then a thought occurred to him. "Hey Mr. Sullivan." He yelled before Rob had left the gate area.

"Yeah." Rob replied.

"I know that other schools in the area were doing the same program. Do you know if any of their students will be staying in the same area." Jess asked, although he seriously doubted he would know.

"Funny you should ask. Actually we typically try to place kids in the same area, at least two of them, just so they have someone to hang out with. I believe there is another student down the street from you. A girl if I'm not mistaken. You probably don't know her though, I heard that she lives in Hartford." Mr. Sullivan said.

"Thanks." Jess said as his teacher walked away. "_So I guess that means that it isn't Rory, probably someone from Chilton or one of those other prep schools, but Rory lives in Stars Hollow so I guess I'm out of luck there."_

"Now boarding rows 45 to 37. Rows 45 to 37" a loud voice said over the speakers.

Jess looked down at his ticket and saw that he was row 38. "I guess that's me." he said to no one in particular as he picked up his backpack and walked over to the gate. After handing over all his required documents Jess was allowed on the plane. He found his seat, which was luckily not one of those middle rows, and even better, a window seat. He sat down and got out a book, he didn't want to start reading the letter until they were up in the air. An older lady sat down beside him.

"Hi, I'm Dolores. Is this your first time going to Europe?" She asked.

"I'm Jess, and yeah this is. I'm going on an exchange trip to Italy." Normally Jess would have replied as curtly as possible and then ignored the old lady, however she seemed nice and Jess was really trying the whole nice thing.

"Oh its lovely there. I visit my daughter every year. She studied abroad in Florence during college. Then she fell in love with a cute Italian boy and they got married. Now I'm the proud grandmother of two with a third coming soon, hopefully while I'm down there." Dolores said beaming at the thought of her grand kids.

Jess laughed a little but couldn't help but feel worried about what she said. What if Rory met a guy and fell in love with him?

"You look worried Jess." Dolores said, noting the strange look on the boys face. "Let me guess, girl problems."

Shocked at how well she could read him, Jess began, "Uh yeah, this girl I really like is somewhere in Italy for a year as well. She kissed me before she left but we never really got to talk about it afterwards. Now I'm just worried that she might fall for some Italian guy like your daughter did." He was surprised at how much he had opened up to her but Dolores just seemed like one of those people who you could talk to.

"Jess, now don't be embarrassed when I say this but you are a good looking young man. Now unless this girl is blind as a bat, I'm sure that she feels the same way about you. Who knows, you might even see each other sooner than you think. Love has a way of working out for the best." Dolores said with a smile, patting Jess on the hand.

"Thanks, Dolores." Jess said, a slight pink color visible in his cheeks.

"No problem Jess, now if you don't mind I have some reading to do." Dolores said, pulling out a copy of _The Kite Runner_ out of her bag.

"Me too." Jess replied. A few minutes later the captain announced that they were cleared for take off. Once they were on the sky for about ten minutes, Jess realized he couldn't wait any longer and pulled Rory's envelope out of his back pocket.

He opened it up and found several sheets of paper. Although a bit apprehensive, he began to read the letter.

_Jess,_

_Hi. I really don't know what to say but I knew that whatever I could say to you in person wouldn't come out the way. I have all these things I wanted to say in my head but I knew when I came to say goodbye it would all come out as gibberish. So I figured it might make more sense if I wrote it down. So here it goes. I have really strong feelings for you. If I'm being honest with myself, these feelings started when I first met you. I mean sure, they were not very strong at the time, but they were definitely there. Then over time they were getting stronger and stronger. And then at the wedding when I kissed you, well I said that was a mistake but I was wrong. I knew from the moment that my lips touched yours I knew that it wasn't a mistake, but I was scared. Scared that we would never work out, that you didn't feel the same way. I can't believe that you even talked to me after that, I feel so terrible about how I treated you. But you did, and when Dean broke up with me, you helped me, you comforted me and let me cry. You have changed so much since I first mt you. When you came to Stars Hollow you were so sullen and gloomy. I knew you would do great things, I just wasn't sure if you knew. You did though and you have turned yourself around so completely. I hope that when I get back home you are still there waiting for me. Call me, email me, or write often. Please let me know how you feel about this. I love you._

_Rory_

Jess stared at Rory's confession, at first in shock and eventually a smile crept over his face. He read the letter three more times and spent almost an hour thinking about what this meant.

A while later Dolores looked up from her book. "You look a little bit happier." She said noticing the slight smile on Jess's face. "Did you read something good?"

"Um, actually I did." Jess replied.

"So does it look like things are going to work out for you and this girl?" Dolores asked, having a feeling that whatever was making Jess happy had to do with the letter that she had seen him reading.

"I hope so, lets just say that the situation seems to be improving." Jess replied, and then added, "And her name is Rory."

"Well I hope that everything works out for you and Rory." Dolores said with a smile. "So now that I have finished my book, do you mind talking to a crazy old lady?"

"Usually I would, but suddenly I feel like I need someone to talk to." Jess said honestly.

Dolores laughed at the teenager, "So now you say you are on your way to Italy for a student exchange program. I think that my daughter said she was hosting an exchange student as well. It must be exciting, leaving your life behind and going to a new country."

The two talked for a little while longer. Later they served dinner and showed a movie. Jess was disappointed to see that the movie of choice for the flight was Crossroads. He was pretty tired from everything so he went to sleep. He woke up a few hours later just as the captain was announcing that they were landing in Rome. Jess packed up his stuff and prepared to start his new life in Rome.


	9. A New Home Rory

Rory stepped off the plane and took her first look at Italy. Sadly all she saw was the inside of the Rome airport. She looked around the airport, searching for her host family, worried that she might never find them. Suddenly she saw a big pink poster board sign that said "Welcome Rory Gilmore!!!!!" A woman who looked to be about thirty stood holding it. Next to her was a man with olive skin, obviously very Italian. There were two young kids, a girl and a boy. It also looked as if the woman might be pregnant. Realizing that she should probably go over to them, rather than just stand there looking, Rory began to walk.

Before she got to them, the woman ran up to Rory. "You must be Rory. At least I hope that you are, because if you aren't this is going to awfully awkward."

"I'm Rory, don't worry." She said to the woman laughing.

The woman gave her a hug and led her over to the rest of her family. "Rory, this is my husband, Mario, our daughter Marie, and our son Anthony. Marie is four and Anthony is two. And this little one is gonna be born in about 5 months, the woman said pointing to her stomach."

"Hon, now that you introduced all of us to Rory, maybe you should tell Rory who you are." Mario said, laughing at his wife's absentmindedness.

"Of course I told Rory who I . . . oh wait I didn't." She said. "I'm Gina."

"Hi, it's so great to meet all of you." Rory said with a smile on her face.

"Well we're glad to meet you to Rory. This is going to be an amazing year. You will love Italy, everyone does." Mario said as he hugged her.

"So we are going to bring you back to our house, its about an hour from here. Then tomorrow, Mario is going to be coming back to pick up my mother, she is flying in tonight." Gina said. "So how about we get your bags and then we can get out of here, you must be exhausted."

They went down to the first floor, gathered all of Rory's bags, and went out to the car. They got in and began their trip to Pratola. On the way Rory found out more about the Lorenzo's, her host family. "So Gina, you don't seem like you're Italian, are you?"

"No, actually I was studying abroad in my senior year in college. I was in Florence studying fashion. Mario was an art major, also in Florence. We met and fell in love, we got married and a year later Marie was born. While I was falling in love with Mario, I fell in love with Italy as well." Gina said, holding her husbands hand and smiling.

"So how did you end up moving from Florence to Pratola?" Rory asked.

It was now Mario's turn, "Well we lived in Florence until shortly after Marie was born. We knew that we wanted her to grow up in a smaller, safer area. I grew up in Pratola and it is just such a close, warm place that we decided to move back there. I commute to Rome two days a week, Gina has to go to Florence one weekend a month. Other than that we work at home. It works out great because one of is always home."

"Have Marie and Anthony ever been to America?"

"Marie was when she was two and we are planning on going back next year, probably when the baby is about one. Hopefully we will be able to come visit you when we go." Gina said.

Mario shot her a look, "Oh wait, that was way to forward, I should probably get to know you better before I go and invite myself to your house."

Rory laughed, realizing how much Gina reminded her off her mom, "It's no problem, actually I'm really used to this kind of thing. My town back home is very friendly, everyone kind of just shows up on your doorstep, of course it's usually to spread gossip, but whatever. And anyway my mom would love to have you at our house."

"Oh, yay!!" Gina exclaimed and everyone in the car laughed.

"So, Marie what is your favorite thing to do?" Rory asked, turning her attention to the younger members of the family.

"I like to dance. I take tap and ballet." Marie said, speaking flawless English.

"Really, I took dance when I was little but my dance teacher was very absentminded." Rory said, remembering her experience in Ms. Pattie's dance class.

"Cool, will you watch me dance when we get back to our house?" Marie asked, taking an immediate liking to this new member of her family.

"Marie, sweetie. Rory probably wants to get settled in, why don't you give her a brake." Gina said, looking back at her daughter.

"Marie, I would love to watch you dance, really. Do you have a recital at the end of the year?" Rory asked. She had never had a younger child in her life and she knew she would enjoy having a 'little sister.'

"Yeah, I do. You can come to that if you want." Marie exclaimed.

"Sure, I would love that." Rory said smiling. "So Anthony, what do you like?"

"I like twucks." Anthony said, holding a toy truck up in his hand.

"Really, do you want to drive a truck when you get older?" Rory asked.

"Yeah!!!" Anthony cried.

"That's very cool." Rory said.

The rest of the car ride was similar to this. Rory talked to the kids for a little while longer but they fell asleep. She then talked to Mario and Gina. She found out that the kids spoke both English and Italian, equally well. Marie was starting kindergarten this year. Anthony went to playgroups but his parents didn't believe in daycare.

Finally they arrived in Pratola. The streets were so narrow, Rory was surprised that any car could even fit down it. She stared out the window as the scenes passed by her. She saw children playing in the street, they passed the town square, a beautiful old church, small restaurants, and an open plaza, which she was told would hold a sort of farmers market later that week. "This is all so amazing."

"Yeah, it is. It's amazing that no matter how many times we pass through here, in the car or just on a walk, it never ceases to amaze me." Gina said, also admiring the view.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the Lorenzo's residence. It was a typical Italian house, connected to all the others on the street, seemingly small on the outside but large and roomy on the inside. Rory was shown her room, it was on the top floor and had a small door that led out to a porch that overlooked the back door. There was an adjoining room next to hers, which she was told Gina's mother would be staying in for the next month or so. Rory was left to get her things settled in. She set up her laptop and other things she brought from home. She had some picture frames with pictures of her and her mom, her and Lane, and one of her with Jess standing off to the side a little bit back. She didn't know why she liked this picture when she got it developed, it certainly wasn't a good picture of her, but now she knew. It was because he was in it. As she was finishing emptying her bag she found her cell phone charger. That was when she realized she had yet to call her mom. So she got out her cell and dialed home.

"Hello, this Lorelai Gilmore, well of course it is, it couldn't be Rory because she left me all alone and went off to Italy, so if you are calling for her you are out of luck. . ."

Rory cut off her mother before she could continue her rant, "Mom, it's me, your daughter."

"Rory, daughter of mine, You call, finally. I thought you had forgotten to me, met a handsome stranger, and would never return to your lonesome old spinster mother. But you called so I guess that means that you haven't, unless you are calling to tell me. . ."

Once again Rory had to cut off her mother, "Mom, whoa, slow down. How in the world did you get this much coffee from Luke?"

"Well, you see Luke had to go somewhere, Jess was gone with him and Caesar was left to run the diner. It got really crowded and he told me that if I helped him out, and didn't tell Luke, he would let me have all the coffee that I wanted. Needless to say I had a whole pot."

"Wow, so are you going to be able to have a serious conversation with me or should I call back later?" Rory asked.

"No, I'm good, well for the next like five minutes or until the energy surge kicks back in." Lorelai replied.

"Ok, good because I have big news to tell you. I kissed Jess." Rory said nonchalantly.

"Hon, I know that. Remember we discuss this already, oh wait, unless of course you meant that you kissed him again. . . Rory did you kiss Jess AGAIN???" Lorelai was now screaming.

"Yeah, and then I gave him a letter that said I loved him." Rory said quietly.

"I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!!!!" Lorelai chanted.

Rory knew that her Mom was doing her happy dance, although she wasn't quite sure why. "Wait, Mom, why are you happy for me?"

"Because I knew that you loved him. I knew it. Wait what did he say?" Lorelai asked.

"He didn't say anything, I kissed him, gave him the letter and left."

"Wait, you didn't say anything, you just kissed him and left." Lorelai was shocked. "Well at least you didn't run away or cry. But you seriously didn't say anything?"

"Well, I told him that I didn't regret it, but that's all." She said.

"Well do you?" Lorelai asked.

"No, I don't. I just hope that he doesn't regret it." Rory said quietly.

"He doesn't Rory, I see the way that he looks at you. That boy is absolutely in love with you. In fact I think you are the reason that he turned around. He did it for your Rory, because he truly loved you but didn't feel like he was worthy." Lorelai told her daughter.

"Ok, enough about this. I won't be seeing him for an entire year, so let's not get my hopes up." Rory said matter-of - factly.

"Well then tell me about your host family." Lorelai said enthusiastically.

For the next forty five minutes Rory told her Mom about the Lorenzo's and how much fun this was going to be. It was definitely a good thing that they got the cell phone plan that had unlimited long distance minutes.

"Rory, we're going to eat dinner in a few minutes." Gina yelled up the stairs.

Rory had just hung up the phone with her mom. She washed her hands and went downstairs. They ate a quick dinner, well quick for the Italians. It was over after about an hour. Afterwards th entire family and Rory went out into the town. All the townspeople gathered in the square to share food and stories. Gina informed that it was like this every night in the summer time, once school came many of the older kids still stayed out late but the younger children went to bed early.

That evening Rory met a ton of people, there was an American school just outside the town in Sulmona. This was where she would be going to school. There were a lot of kids from that school living in Pratola. Gina introduced her to a girl her age. Mary was from Florida, but her parents moved to Italy when she was 14 because her mom got a job opportunity. The had lived in Pratola ever since.

"So, what do you guys do around here for fun?" Rory asked.

"Well this is pretty much it. In the wintertime we ski, and in the summer there is the beach but its kind of an in between season. The movies are okay but mostly in Italian which kind of sucks if you can't understand it. On Friday nights at school they show American movies in the gym, its just like the movies actually. Mainly we hang around at someone's house or somewhere in town" Mary said, she was going to continue but was interrupted by a guy walking up behind her.

"Hey Mar, who's this?" The guy, a cute blonde who was a few inches taller than Mary.

"This is Rory, she's an exchange student here from Connecticut. She is gonna go to school with us." Mary replied.

"Hi Rory, I'm Derek." He said, shaking Rory's hand.

"Hi Derek. Actually you guys, I think I'm going to go back. I am so tired from that plane ride so I really need to catch up on my rest. Bye, it was nice meeting you." Rory said as she left them.

The next day Rory slept in late, it was almost twelve when she woke up. She got dressed and went downstairs. "Hi Gina, Marie, Anthony. I am so sorry I slept so late, That is really not like me."

"Don't worry about it, jet lag. And anyways, I sleep in any chance I get." Gina said smiling. "Well we eat lunch around two, and I don't know if you've heard but in Europe lunch is big, like two hours big. Personally I don't like it, but you'll get used to it. So since you didn't have breakfast you might want to grab something to eat. Don't worry, we do have normal America food. My mom sends a supply every month. I can't live without Oreo's."

"Oh yeah, I brought a bunch of food too, my mom seemed to think that there would be no junk food in this entire country." Rory ran upstairs and go the food. She then had a snack and played with the kids.

Soon it was time for lunch. Only Gina, Anthony, Marie, and Rory were home, because it Mario went into Rome to work at his office. He figured it was best because he had to pick up his mother-in- law there anyway. They ate lunch at home, "Rory, lunch here is usually much bigger than this but my kids can't sit still for two hours so on days that Mario is at work we usually eat a smaller lunch." Gina explained.

"Wow, this is what you call a small lunch, I can't imagine a big one." Rory said.

After lunch was through Rory helped Gina with the dishes, and Marie and Anthony took a nap. Around four there was a knock on the door.

"Hi Mary, how can I help you?" Gina asked as she opened the door.

"I came over to say hi to Rory and see if she wanted to go take a tour of the town." Mary said.

"That would be great. Is it okay with you, Gina?" Rory asked.

"No problem Rory, we eat at about seven so just be home by then." Gina replied.

The two girls left the house and began to walk around th town. Mary showed her where she lived, where Angela lived, where Carli lived, and where the teenagers typically hung out. She also explained that both Angela and Carli were on vacation with their families and would be back in two days. The last stop on their tour was Derek's house. The front of his house faced the back of the Lorenzo's house. "So what's the deal with Derek anyway?" Rory asked, last night she had definitely felt tension between Mary and Derek.

He was born in Italy but both of his parents are American, they wanted to be raised as Italian and then learn English, ya know language, culture, etc. So he went to the Italian grammar school but he was able to convince his parents to let him go to the American school for high school. We were both new at that school freshman year and we have been friends ever since." Mary said.

"Well does he have a girlfriend? Not that I like him or anything." Rory had a feeling that her new friend liked Derek and she didn't want Mary to be mad at her.

"No." Replied Mary.

"Well do you like him?" Rory asked, realizing that Mary would never tell her that unless she asked.

After hesitating for a minute Mary replied, "Hell yeah. At one point he liked me too but it was when I was fourteen and my parents had told me that I couldn't date until I was fifteen. We kissed once and he said he liked me, but that incident was never mentioned again. So I'm pretty sure that he has moved on by now."

At the mention of this Rory was reminded of the her own dilemma with Jess. Knowing that she would have plenty of time over the next year to dwell on that, she quickly brushed the memory out of her head. "Don't worry, we'll figure out a plan to get you two together."

"Thanks, so we have about an hour before you have to get back so have you ever had gilato?" Mary asked enthusiastically.

"Gila what?" Asked Rory, clearly confused.

"Gilato, it's like Italian ice cream, but it is so much better than regular." Mary explained.

"Cool, let's go get some." Rory said.

The two girls walked down the street to get some ice cream. Once they were done, each returned to their homes. "Hi Gina, I'm back." Rory said as she walked into the house.

"Hi dear. She just went upstairs to find some pictures." A woman sitting at the table said, startling Rory in the process.

"Oh dear, there I go scaring you. That's not good. I should introduce myself, I'm Dolores, Gina's mother." The woman said as she smiled at Rory, still a bit shaken.

"Oh, hi Dolores. I'm Rory Gilmore, the exchange student." Rory said one she calmed down.

"Hello Rory." Dolores said as she invited the girl to sit down at the table next to her. In her mind the name sounded familiar, however she couldn't seem to place why. Before she had any more time to think about it Gina and Mario came downstairs with Anthony and Marie.

"Oh Rory I see you've met my mom." Gina said.

"Yes she did dear, although I'm afraid I may have scared her a bit." Dolores answered.

"Well now that everyone is here, ow about we get this table set and eat." Mario said, handing plates to Rory.

When everything was ready they all sat down to dinner. Dolores told Gina all about everything that was going on in her hometown. They talked about the baby, Marie, Anthony, both Gina's and Mario's jobs, and finally how Rory was enjoying her stay so far. Dinner lasted much longer and when it was over everyone helped with the dishes. Then they went out into town.

Rory met up with Mary. Derek had to go somewhere with his parents. She didn't stay out to late because she was still kind of tired from the time change. When she got up to her room she decided to read out on the porch for a little while. She was sitting out there and fell asleep, when suddenly voices downstairs awoke her. She looked down to see Derek, his mom, ad his dad walking into her house. There was also a fourth person with them, a guy who looked like he was about 17 or 18. He had bags with him so Rory figured he must be a relative. Just as the strange guy was about to enter the house he glanced behind him, giving Rory a good view of his face. She wasn't sure if her eyes were playing tricks on her because from what she saw of his face, she could have sworn it was Jess. Before she could get a second look he was in the house. She told herself that it wasn't him and went to bed. However she couldn't shake the feeling that she knew the stranger.


	10. A New Home Jess

Jess got off the plane and said goodbye to Dolores. She was going to meet her son-in-law and he had to find his host family. He looked around the airport but couldn't find anyone. He decided to sit down and wait until he saw them. He sat in he chair and waited. Finally about five minutes later, a guy about his age walked up to him and sat down on the bench next to him. The guy said nothing to Jess and in about a minute his phone rang.

"Hello." He said as he answered it. "So his plane definitely already landed. Twenty minutes ago. I told you we were going to be late. Well there was no one at the gate. Yeah I'll go check again." The boy hung up the phone, obviously frustrated.

"_Hmm, waiting for someone who got off a plane 20 minutes ago. My plane landed about 20 minutes ago, maybe this is Dolores' son-in-law. Or maybe this is who I am staying with. Maybe I should say something before he leaves" _Jess thought to himself and then out loud said "I think I just got off that plane who are you looking for?

"A foreign exchange student who is staying with us, I think he's from Connecticut." The guy replied.

"I think you might be looking for me." Jess said, then he remembered that he was supposed to be staying with a family that had a three year old daughter. "Shit, no that couldn't be right. The family that I am staying with has a three year old daughter, the Molino's I think was their name."

"Wait are you Jess?" The guy asked.

"Yeah." He replied.

"Then I think that you might be right, the family that you are talking about are my neighbors. You were supposed to be staying with them but last night Mrs. Molino got a call from her sister in France, apparently their mom had a pretty serious heart attack. She lives in France too. The family is going to be out of time for at least two weeks and rather than have you be sent to a different town, we offered to host you. My name is Derek by the way." Derek said as he shook Jess's hand.

"Hi." He said.

"Well we should probably go find my parents and let them know that you're here." Derek said.

Jess followed him and they walked to the baggage claim area. "Mom, Dad, this is Jess." Derek said.

"Hi Jess, I'm Mike Johnson and this is my wife Kelly." Mike said.

"Hi, how are you?" Jess said, trying to be polite.

"We are just great, and we're so glad to have you staying with us. Did Derek explain what happened with the Molino's?" Kelly Johnson asked.

"Yeah he did. I was looking forward to staying with them, but I'm actually really glad that I'll be staying with someone my age." Jess said.

"That's what we thought but seeing as we are Americans the exchange program was a little reluctant about having us as a host family." Mike said as he helped Jess carry one of his two suitcases.

"Uh hmm." Kelly interrupted. "You are American. I however am born and raised in Italy. And Derek is Italian as well." She said playfully.

Jess looked at the couple with a puzzled look on his face. "My wife was born and raised right here in Italy, Rome to be exact. Her father was in the army and they lived in Italy until she was sixteen. They moved to the states and we lived next door to each other. Then when we got married we honeymooned in Italy and fell in love with Pratola, which is where we live now. After the honeymoon was over, Kelly refused to leave" Mike explained with a laugh.

"Huh. Just like on Boy Meets World" Jess muttered under his breath. "_Whoa, where the hell did that come from?"_

**Flashback**

The night after the Rory Dean fiasco, Rory invited Jess over for a non-movie movie marathon, for lack of a better title.

"I don't get it, what exactly is the purpose of this night?" Jess asked as Rory opened the door and let him in the house. Her mom got called to the Inn, thus ditching Rory for their movie night.

"Well, see we're gonna watch things that are not movies" Rory said with an ever so slightly evil look creeping on her face.

"What do you mean by 'not exactly movies' because there are quite a few things that fall in that category and I have a feeling that I'm not gonna like what you picked" Jess said, dreading the impending night.

In the same voice that Jess had oh so often heard Lorelai use when trying to get Luke to give her more coffee Rory exclaimed, "It's gonna be a night of tv shows. You like television right?"

"What kind of television?" he said, realizing he had fallen into her non-movie movie marathon trick.

Slightly under her breath, Rory mutter "Boy Meets World".

Luckily for Jess, living in NYC for most of his life had given him impeccable hearing. "No way Rory. That show is so stupid".

With a pout on her face, Rory grabbed his arm and attempted to drag him away from the door while explaining that there was a marathon of the show on some obscure cable channel and she had been dying to watch it. Finally, Jess gave in. Obviously all the Dane's men were highly susceptible to the charms of the Gilmore Girls.

Settling on the couch, they were fairly close to one another. As the marathon progressed, they moved closer until Rory was leaning against his shoulder. About halfway through the marathon, Corey and Topanga's honeymoon episode came on and Rory jumped up, knocked her head on Jess's chin.

"Geeze Gilmore, that's it, I'm cutting of your sugar supply, you have way to much energy. You're like a freaking Mexican jumping bean" said Jess, trying to control his laughter.

"Oh my god I am soooo sorry Jess. Are you ok? Do you need ice? A band-aid? Towel? Are you bleeding? Does it hurt? Can I get you anything?" she said extremely quickly, a slight blush creeping into her cheeks. Upon seeing his laughter, she too began to laugh. When they calmed down, Rory explained why she got so excited. "See, this was always my favorite episode. I always thought they should have just stayed in paradise. They would have been so happy and it was so beautiful there. I can't wait for my honeymoon. Who knows, maybe I'll fall in love with the place and move there."

They continued to watch the show and eventually Rory fell asleep on Jess' shoulder. Upon realizing this, he got up and grabbed a blanket for her. They both fell asleep on the couch for a while. Eventually Jess woke up again. "_This is comfortable. To bad if I stay here Lorelai will see and she will definitely kill me. We might be getting along better but I don't think she trusts me quite that much yet. Well, better get going before I fall asleep again." _He got up, adjusted Rory so she looked a bit more comfortable, and began to walk out the door. As an afterthought, he backtracked to the couch and placed a light kiss on her cheek. "_Seven hours of Boy Meets World was definitely worth this"._

**End Flashback**

"Jess, you awake?" Mike said, waving his hand in front of the daydreaming boy's face. They had reached the car.

"Sorry, wasn't paying attention" Jess said as he lifted his suitcase into the trunk of the ve3ry small car.

Once they were all in the car, they began the trip home. "So Jess, now that you know about us, why don't you tell us about yourself. " Kelly said.

"Well I grew up in New York City with my mom. My dad left us when I was little. I have a half sister Briana, she is fifteen. We kind of took care of each other because my mom was always pretty busy. Well one day my mom decided that she couldn't deal with me, I had just gotten suspended from school. So she sent me to Star's Hollow in Connecticut to live with my Uncle Luke. At first I hated it there, but then I met someone who really changed my views and I started to work harder. I wasn't really doing so well in some of my classes so I went to summer school and was able to raise my grades enough to get accepted into the exchange program." Jess finished, hoping that he didn't scare this family off with his bad boy background.

"Wow." Derek said. "What did you do to get suspended?"

"Derek!" Exclaimed both Kelly and Mike.

"Oops, sorry about that." Derek said sheepishly.

"No problem, actually it wasn't really my fault. These guys were harassing my sister. Basically just calling her names. She didn't tell me about it, but then one guy tried to do more than just call her names, if you know what I mean. She told me finally and the next day I went up to them, they had surrounded her by her locker and were being asses. So I punched the one guy who was sort of their leader. Long story short, it turned into a pretty big fight. I broke a kids nose, but there were like three of them to one of me. I was pretty lucky to come out with just a lot of bruising. I got suspended for a week but the other kids got suspended for two weeks." Jess explained.

"Good for you Jess." Kelly said smiling at the teenager in the back seat. "So now I have another question, was this person who you said changed how you felt about Stars Hollow a girl by any chance? And was it possibly the subject of your earlier daydream?"

"And you guys yelled at me for being nosy?" Derek chimed in.

"Ignore Derek Jess, go on. That is of course if you think it is none of my business." Kelly said.

"Nah, it's ok, I can tell you. She was the reason I changed and earlier I was thinking about her." Jess said, with a far off look in his eyes.

"I figured." Kelly replied. Jess didn't continue and no one really felt that it was ok for them to pry anymore into his life so soon after their first meeting.

They talked until they reached Pratola. When they got to the Johnson's house Jess followed them in. "Jess you will be staying in the extra bedroom. Since the house isn't that big, there is only one bathroom. It's off the kitchen. You must be exhausted from the flight so Derek can help you get you stuff upstairs and then you can just relax." Kelly explained.

The two guys walked up the stairs and Derek showed Jess his room. Jess began to pull some things out of his bags and Derek just kind of hung around the room. Jess realized that he hadn't left and wondered what he needed to tell him.

"So are you two dating?" Derek asked.

"What?" Jess asked.

"You and that girl my mom asked you about, are you dating, or were you?" Derek explained.

"Uh, not really. She left for the exchange program the day before I did. She kissed me and basically told me she loved me but other than that we haven't really had more than a friend relationship." Jess explained.

"Wow man that sucks. Does she know you're here?"

"No, I didn't want to tell her. I didn't think that anything would come from it. Plus I didn't find out until basically the last minute." Jess answered.

Realizing that he didn't even know the girls name, Derek asked.

"Rory, Rory Gilmore" was Jess' response.

"So where did you say you were from?" Derek asked Jess all the while thinking that that girl's name sounded really familiar.

"Stars Hollow, Connecticut. It's just outside Hartford." Jess said. "You probably have never heard of it, its about the size of a New York City block."

"Yeah, your right." Derek said.

As he was walking out of the room, it hit him. Rory, the girl staying with the Lorenzo's. Her last name definitely started with a G and he was almost positive that it was Gilmore. Furthermore, he was pretty sure that she was from a town near Hartford. Jess had no idea that he was staying within twenty feet of the girl of his dreams. He quickly went down to the family room and signed online. Mary was on so he sent her an instant message.

SkIsTaR101: Hey!

DJ1564: Hey! Guess what, you'll never guess what I just found out

SkIsTaR101: what??? tell me

DJ1564: We have an exchange student here staying with us

SkIsTaR101: What?!?!?! How??

DJ1564: Last minute thing, but anyway his name is Jess and he is from Connecticut

DJ1564: Stars Hollow Connecticut to be exact

SkIsTaR101: oh, kool

SkIsTaR101: wait, like Rorys Stars Hollow??????

DJ1564: Yeah

SkIsTaR101: Maybe they know each other. Did u ask him?

DJ1564: not exactly

SkIsTaR101: well ask him

DJ1564: I don't need to. He already told me that he does.

SkIsTaR101: So does he know that she's here? Were they friends?

DJ1564: No she doesn't and he was kind of vague about whether or not they were friends

SkIsTaR101: oh

DJ1564: But he did say that they kissed, and that she wrote him a letter that said she loved him

SkIsTaR101: WHAT??????? OMG

DJ1564: I know, I know

SkIsTaR101: does he like her

DJ1564: yeah, he definitely does, when he talks about her he gets this look in his eyes

SkIsTaR101: We need to get them together and soon

DJ1564: How

SkIsTaR101: easy, I'll tell Rory that there is this really shy guy who saw her the other night and really liked her. Because he was so shy he asked me to ask her if she would go out with him. She is way to nice to say no.

DJ1564: Ok so then how do we get Jess to be there?

SkIsTaR101: Tell him that you are going to introduce him to all of your friends. When you get to where you are going to meet them, only Rory and me will be there.

DJ1564: Hopefully that will work. Wait, if Rory really does love Jess then she probably won't go out on a date with someone else.

SkIsTaR101: She might, and if she doesn't I'll give her the same excuse that you are giving Jess. But I'll tell her that Angela and Carli are back and want to meet her.

DJ1564: K, hope it works

SkIsTaR101: It will, my plans always work. You'll see, one day my plan to take over the world will be successful too.

DJ1564K: ok Brain, have a nice night then.

Meanwhile in Jess's room he lay in his bed thinking about Rory. He hoped that when they both returned to Stars Hollow their feelings would be the same. He knew his feelings wouldn't change but he was still unsure about Rory. He figured he had a long time to think about this and figure out where exactly they stood before he would have to confront her again. Little did he know how wrong he was.


	11. The Plan Begins

The next morning came way too early for Jess. He woke up at nine, still a little out of it because of the time change. When he went downstairs, Derek was sitting there. His parents had gone to Rome for the day in celebration of the 20th anniversary. They would be back later that night.

They left the house a little after eleven. Derek showed him around Pratola, which turned out to be a very small town. They went to the town square and Derek explained that every night during the summer most of the town gathered in the square and would just talk, eat, and listen to music. This was the last week they would be doing this because school started again next week.

"So Jess what did you like to do in Stars Hollow?" Derek asked.

"Well I should probably explain to you that Stars Hollow is tiny. There is nothing to do there except go to the movies, but they show movies at least a month after they open anywhere else. Oh and there is this psycho guy, Taylor. I swear he wants us to revert back to Puritanism. Seriously he's nuts. He hates me too, although that probably has good reason. I faked a murder scene." Jess said.

"You what? How did you do that?" Derek said laughing.

"Pretty simple once you have the heavy duty chalk and police scene tape. Then all you have to is wait til the town is mainly deserted. Seeing as pretty much everyone is in bed by 10, that's not too hard to find." Jess said with a smirk.

"So what did Rory think of that?" Derek asked.

Jess remembered the incident. "She wasn't to happy, her boyfriend at the time worked at the grocery store. I drew the body in front of the store so he spent like a week cleaning it up."

"Oh man. Not good." was all Derek could say.

"Yeah. But I don't really want to talk about her right now. How about you, are you dating anyone?" Jess asked.

"No, but there is this girl that I like. She goes to the same school as me. We kind of started there at the same time. We kissed once but nothing ever really happened because she couldn't date for another year. When she turned fifteen I figured that by now she had probably moved on and never really pursued anything." Derek said.

"You never know what might happen." Jess said. Realizing that they were back at the house Jess looked at his watch. It was one and he still had yet to call Luke. He wasn't really sure what time it was back home, but he figured he should call him now anyways. "Hey, um I have to call my uncle so I'm just gonna go up to my room. Then I actually have to do some reading. I just got that summer reading list the day before I left and I only read one of the five books so far."

"K. Yeah I have to read two more. I probably should work on that now, especially because one book doesn't even have Sparknotes for it." Derek said.

Jess got up to his room and got out his cell phone. He had gotten it the day before he left because Luke figured it would be better than buying him prepaid calling cards and having him lose them. After a few rings someone answered but Jess was surprised to not hear Luke or Caesar on the other end.

"Hello, Iceman's Diner, this is his gorgeous receptionist speaking. He can't come to the phone right now because he is over at my house fixing the washer with Bert. Oooh that sounds really dirty."

Before Jess could respond, he heard Caesar in the back ground, "Lorelai, Luke is gonna kill you. You better hope that's not him."

"Oh shit, please tell me you aren't Luke and I'll be your best friend forever, just don't tell Sookie or Rory cuz then they would be mad at me." Lorelai said.

"Hi Lorelai." Jess said, an amused tone in his voice.

"Jess I take that back, I'm not going to be your best friend." Lorelai exclaimed, "Hey, where are you?"

"Uh, I'm in Italy. Didn't Luke tell you that I was gone?" Jess asked.

"Yeah he did, he just failed to mention that small detail about the country you were in. Do you think that you will see Rory?" Lorelai asked.

"No I doubt it. Ya know Italy is like a country, it's not exactly small like Stars Hollow." Jess said sarcastically.

"Haha very funny. You better be nice because when Luke isn't here I might just sneak upstairs into your room and paint it pink, with ponies, and hearts, oohhh and Barbie dolls. I always thought you would be the type to play with Barbie Dolls, no wait that was Dean who I thought would play with them, you I thought would rip their heads off, or burn them. So did you ever burn them cause that would be mean, murder even, a Barbie has feelings too." Lorelai said, out of breath from her little rant.

"Have you been drinking that coffee straight from the pot again?" Jess asked remembering the last time that Luke had left her in charge of the diner.

Lorelai hesitated and then responded in such an obvious voice that Jess knew that it was a lie. "Uh no, why would you think that? I gotta go, but here's Luke, he just walked in the door." To Luke she yelled, "Oh Lucas, the phone is for you, and if he says anything about me just remember that he is the one who stole a gnome and killed someone so who are you going to believe?" She finished batting her eyes.

"Hello" came Luke's gruff voice after being handed the phone by Lorelai.

"Luke, hey, just wanted to let you know that I got here and everything." Jess said.

"Well that's good. So do you like the family you're with?' Luke asked.

"Yeah they have a son my age so it's good I guess. We're going out tonight to meet some of his friends and then school starts in a week." Jess replied.

"Oh, can you hold on for a second" although Luke put the phone down Jess could still here him clearly, because he was yelling, "Lorelai give me that coffee pot. I can't believe it, you were probably drinking from there the whole time that I was gone. Caesar I thought I told you to watch her. Now she is gonna try and get me to let her dance on the counter like last time."

Jess laughed as he listened to his uncle. Finally Luke picked the phone up, "Jess I gotta go and get Lorelai away from the coffee. Check in every once in a while so that I know you're still alive, ok." Luke said.

"Sure" was all Jess said.

They hung up and Jess settled down to read his book. He didn't realize how late it was, it was almost 5:30 and he had just finished his second book, only two more left. He figured he would leave them for tomorrow and decided to go online. "Hey Derek." Jess called as he walked across the hall.

Derek looked up to see Jess standing in his doorway. "Yeah. "

"Is there somehow that I can go online?" Jess asked, remembering how Rory asked him to email her.

"Uh yeah, we have a computer in the living room and we have high speed so you can stay on for as long as you want." Derek explained.

"K, thanks." Jess said as he went downstairs. He got online and went to check his mail. All he had was some spam and other junk. After much debating he decided to write to Rory.

_Rory,_

_Uh well I don't really know what to say, I rarely write people letters, even email. Your mom is probably going to tell you this but just so you know I am in Italy for a student exchange program. I doubt that I'll see you because as I pointed out to Lorelai, it is a country and everything, but I just wanted to let you know. Other than that nothing has really happened. Give me a call or email me some time. Maybe if we are ever in the same place at the same time we could meet up._

_Jess_

_I just wanted to let you know that I think I love you too_

Jess debated about mentioning the letter and Rory's admission to him, but decided that he wasn't ready for that. He also thought that maybe email wasn't the best way to tell the girl of his dreams that he loved her. After much debate he deleted the last line and hit "send." _"Whoa, what would the town think of me now, getting all sentimental in an email, that's way to cliché movie guy thing for me anyway._"

Derek had told him that they were meeting some friends from the town at 7 and going to get pizza so he figured the would be leaving soon. Almost as if on cue, Derek came down the stairs and told him they were leaving.

Back at the Lorenzo's house Rory was getting ready. She couldn't believe that Mary had talked her into going out on a date with some guy.

**Flashback, earlier that day**

Knock, knock

Rory got up from the couch and walked to the door. She let Mary in and they went back into the family room. "So um, I hope I'm not being rude but do you like have no friends here?" Rory asked laughing. Since she had arrived in Italy, she had hung out with Mary almost everyday.

Mary, responding first with an evil glare, said, "Haha, you're just so funny. Actually I do have friends, but they are all on vacation with their families or they live in Sulmona. I mean its only a twenty minute drive but I don't even have my license yet so it's not like I'm gonna see them everyday. So what are you doing today?"

"Well for now I'm watching Anthony and Marie, Mario is at work and Gina took Dolores out for lunch and to some market thing I guess." Rory said, "But they should be back in like an hour and then I can do whatever."

"Cool, that's good because you have to go somewhere tonight." Mary said, an evil look on her face.

"You look like my mom right before she goes into Luke's to beg him for coffee or to play bagel hockey." Rory said, forgetting that Mary had no idea what she was talking about.

Mary stared at Rory with a confused look on her face, "Luke, is that her boyfriend? And bagel hockey, what the hell is that? Oh wait is that like code for sex? Never mind, don't answer that one."

Rory burst out laughing, "Oh wow, bagel hockey is just what it sounds like, hockey played on a counter with bagels. But seriously, thanks for that visual, I may be scared for life, never able to play again, and seeing as that is my mothers favorite game, she might have to come here and kill you, or recruit you for her team, it really all depends on how good of a goalie you are. Oh, and Luke's is the owner of the diner that we eat at. They're definitely not dating. Yet."

Once she heard this Mary too began laughing.

After a minute Rory remembered what started this all, Mary's evil look. "So you can't avoid this any longer, what did you come over here for?"

"Oh yeah, that. Well you see there is this guy, he's our age. His name is Pete. He saw you the other night and he really likes you. Well I kind of, maybe told him that you would want to go out with him. Tonight." Mary said, waiting to see her friends reaction.

"What??? Mary why did you do that? Don't you think you need to ask me about these things?" Rory yelled.

The noise finally disturbed Anthony and Marie, who had been watching tv quietly. "Rory." Marie said.

"Yeah, what's the matter?" Rory asked, realizing that the kids had been sitting there very nicely for almost an hour, they were bound to need something.

"Well I just wanted to tell you that Pete sometimes babysits and he is very cute." Marie said, blushing slightly as she did.

Mary and Rory looked at each other and then at Marie. Mary was the first to say something. "Does your mother know about this crush?"

Marie's response was to turn around and continue watching her show, ignoring Mary's comment completely.

"So now back to Pete, now that you have two people who say he is cute you have to say that you will go out with him." Mary said.

"I don't think so. I'm really not ready for that." Rory said, her thoughts automatically going to Jess.

"Come on Rory. You're in Italy and you need to find a guy. You can't go back home and tell your friends that you didn't date any Italians, it would just be wrong." Mary pleaded.

Rory sighed, "Mary, it's not that simple. I'm sure Pete is a great guy but there is this other guy at home."

"I know J. . just give him a try. You never know he might be a lot like this other guy. What's his name by the way?" Mary asked, worried that Rory caught her little slip up. She had almost said Jess's name but stopped herself just in time.

"Jess." Was all Rory said.

"Well all I'm asking is that you go out with Pete. If you don't like him you don't ever have to talk to him again. I promise." Mary said, hoping that her plan worked.

Rory thought about it, "_What do I have to lose. It's not like I'm going to see Jess for another year. But does that really matter. I love him and I really don't want to date anyone right now. But there's also the fact that Mary told him I would and I would feel really bad if someone stood me up."_

"Rory, Rory, Earth to Rory!" Mary said, waving her hands in front of her friends face.

"Yeah. I'm here. I'll go on the date, but just as a friend. You let him know that." Rory insisted.

"Fine, but just do me a favor and be nice to him." Mary said.

"I am always nice." Rory said while crossing her arms.

Mary smiled, glad that Rory had agreed to the plan, "Well you are supposed to meet him at 7 so be ready like half an hour before that."

"Fine, fine, fine. Now go. I need to make lunch for Marie and Anthony, and then I probably should actually get changed." Rory was referring to the fact that she was still in her pajama's.

"K, I'll see you later." Mary said as she walked out the door.

Rory made the kids Mac -n- Cheese for lunch and soon after both took a nap. This gave Rory the time she needed to take a shower, dry her hair, and figure out what she was going to wear that night. She didn't really want to look to nice because that would give Pete the impression that she tried really hard to look good. Eventually she decided to wear a denim skirt that fell just above the knee with a black tank top. She still had about 3 hours before she had to go so she decided to work on her AP Economics summer assignment. She had just received all the assignments for school a week before she left. She finished all her books for AP English, as well as the assignment for AP French, but she still had the economics paper to write. She didn't think it would be that hard but it ended up taking the better part of the three hours. Of course part of this time was spent online as well as chasing Marie and Anthony, who had twice as much energy after their nap, around. Gina and Dolores arrived home around 5, explaining that they had decided to do a little shopping in some of the clothes stores. Dolores wanted to buy her grandbaby some clothes.

End Flashback

Rory had told Mary that she would meet her at the square at 6:45 so she finished getting ready. She threw on her favorite pair of flip flops, not caring that they were lime green and completely clashed with her outfit, and debated over whether or not to put on makeup, finally opting for just some light eye makeup and lip gloss.

"Gina, Dolores, I'm going out if that's alright." Rory said as she walked into the kitchen.

"That's no problem." Gina replied as she stirred the macaroni on the stove.

Dolores took notice of the girl's attire, realizing that she never saw her dress up. "So are you going out with a boy?"

"Yeah, but just as a friend. Mary said that he liked me and she kind of set us up. I didn't really want to go but I felt bad turning him down." Rory told the women.

Gina had begun to pay more attention at the mention of dates, "So who is the lucky guy? Is he American or from Italy?"

Rory thought about it and realized that she knew very little about the guy who she was going out with, "Um I actually don't really know much about him except that his name is Pete and apparently your daughter has developed a bit of a crush on him."

"That can't be right. I think that Pete has a girlfriend." Gina said. "Oh, and he is Italian."

"Are you sure that they didn't break up, because Mary said that he really liked me." Rory was truly confused now.

"Well they might have, the last time I talked to him was about two months ago and I know how teenagers can be with one person one day and an entirely new person the next." Gina replied.

"Now that I'm completely confused I'm going to go meet Mary and figure out what is going on." Rory said. She looked at her watch and realized that she was going to be late if she didn't leave soon. "Bye Gina, bye Dolores."

"Bye Rory." Both women said in unison just as Rory walked out the door.

Rory ran down the street and made it to the square in record time. Mary was standing there waiting for her.

"So does Pete have a girlfriend?" Rory asked as soon as she got within hearing distance.

"_Shit, I knew I forgot something."_ Mary thought.

"Well does he, cause I really do not want to go out with him, even as friends, if he does." Rory said quickly.

"Um, no that's his twin brother Paul who has the girlfriend. Pete was dating a girl but they broke up a while back." Mary said, bs-ing her way through the entire story, hoping that Rory would believe it.

Not sure if she should believe it or not Rory decided to trust that Mary was telling the truth and find out what was really going on when they got to the restaurant. "Fine, let's go or we are going to be late."

It took them about five minutes and they were the first ones there. "So explain to me why Pete didn't pick me up." Rory asked, trying to find flaws in Mary's story.

"He's really shy." Mary had been trying to give Rory as vague of answers as possible the whole time so that she didn't slip up and give away the actual plan.

Luckily the questioning would soon end because Derek and Jess were approaching. Rory didn't see this because she was facing the restaurant so that she could talk to Mary.

Jess thought that the girl at the restaurant looked familiar, something about the chestnut brown hair that reminded him of Rory. He brushed this thought off, figuring that he was just missing her.

However as he got closer to her he could have sworn that it was her voice. He could tell that she was trying to figure something out from her tone. But he still kept thinking that it couldn't be her.

Then she turned around.

"Rory?"

"Jess?"


	12. The Date

Previously:

Jess thought that the girl at the restaurant looked familiar, something about the chestnut brown hair that reminded him of Rory. He brushed this thought off, thinking that he was just missing her.

However as he got closer to her he could have sworn that it was her voice. He could tell that she was trying to figure something out from her tone. But he still kept thinking that it couldn't be her.

Then she turned around.

"Rory?"

"Jess?"

Jess was at a loss for words and for the first time since he had known her, Rory seemed to be unable to speak as well.

Knowing that their friends would want some time alone, Derek and Mary decided to leave without saying anything. "Do you think that this is going to work out?" Derek asked Mary once they were away from the couple.

"I think so. I mean Rory is definitely in love with him, and I could tell from the look on Jess's face that he feels the same way about her. Now it's just a matter of getting them to admit that to one another. I know I don't really know her that well, but I think that Rory is the type who might keep her feelings bottled up rather than just tell the guy that she likes him." Mary explained and then thought "_Kinda like me_."

Derek thought about it, "Well hopefully it works because I don't think that I could stand having to live with Jess for a year if he wasn't with Rory. I don't he would have lasted a year here without her. Now that he knows she is her, if they don't get together he is gonna be even more miserable."

"So now that we got Rory and Jess at least to see each other, what do you say we go get some pizza to celebrate?" Mary said, grabbing Derek's arm and pulling him towards a pizzeria.

"Let me guess, you want me to pay?" Derek asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"Well you did just get paid yesterday." Mary said, laughing. It was a running joke they had that since Derek had a job and he was guy he should pay for things like movie tickets and pizza. Most of the time they only joked and Mary did end up paying for her stuff, but sometimes Derek would be nice and pay.

Back to Rory and Jess

"So. . ." Was all Rory could manage to say.

"Yeah." Jess was having a similar speech malfunction problem.

"Um, well one of us should say something." Rory said, hoping that he would take the pressure of her and be the first one to start the conversation.

"Yeah, do you want to go first." Jess had hoped that somehow he would see Rory over the course of the year, but he never expected it to be within a week of arriving. He didn't even know how this happened.

"Ok, well seeing as you know why I'm here and I had no idea that you were even gone from Stars Hollow maybe you could explain that." Rory asked.

"Do you want to go inside and get something to eat and we can talk over diner?" Jess asked, realizing that he was starving and being that Rory was Lorelai Gilmore's daughter she must be hungry as well. If there was one thing he learned from his time in Stars Hollow, it was that in times of stress, or happiness, or sadness, or boredom, or well, really for any reason and at any time, the Gilmore girls liked their food.

At the mention of food Rory remembered that she was hungry, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

The two walked inside and were seated by an elderly woman whose name was Josephine. She led them to a quiet table in the corner and gave them their menu's. Luckily for them Josephine spoke very good English and was able to help them translate the food. They each ordered spaghetti because they were told it was the best in the area. Of course they were told by Josephine who was the owner so they figured she was a bit biased. On the other hand they also figured that it was Italy so they probably couldn't go wrong with spaghetti.

Once Josephine left their table, Jess began, "So you wanted to know why I'm here?"

"Well one minute I fully believe that you are back at the diner helping Luke and the next minute I see you in Italy, so an explanation would really clear things up for me." Rory said, slightly annoyed.

Jess laughed, "You know that I was taking summer school to bring my grades up. I was able to raise them enough to be eligible for a student exchange program. I found out right before you left but I didn't want to tell you because I had no idea where I was going and I figured we would have no chance of seeing you. And now you're here and I feel really stupid for not telling you."

"Don't feel like that. I understand." Rory said.

"So are you staying with that girl you were standing with?" Jess asked, referring to Mary.

"No, actually the family I'm with has a four year old girl, a two year old son, and another baby on the way. Oh, and their grandmother is visiting from the states. She just got here just a couple days ago." Rory explained.

Jess thought about what Rory said, the mother in law form out of town, and he remembered Dolores from the plane. "Wait, is her name Dolores?"

"Whoa that is freaky. Are you telepathic or psychic or something crazy like that. I heard that if you were dropped on the head as a baby you can develop some crazy powers and that is how Ms. Cleo got all her talents." Rory began to ramble.

Jess realized just how much he missed Rory and her rants in the few days that he hadn't seen her. "No I'm not. I was actually sitting next to her on the plane. She was very talkative, and a bit nosy. But she seemed nice."

"She is so nice and I don't think she is really nosy, more like observant." Rory said.

"Yeah, maybe that's what it is. Of course only a truly nosy person would defend another nosy person so I'll have to consider that" he said, with his usual smirk.

Rory realized that they were running out of things to talk about and wasn't sure if she should bring up the letter or not. Luckily she didn't have to. Once Jess realized that Rory was staying with Dolores he knew he was in trouble. He had to talk about the letter and his feelings for her tonight or Dolores, once she found out about Jess, would surely tell Rory about their conversation on the plane.

"We should probably just get this out of the way so it doesn't hang over the whole dinner. Um, I read the letter that you wrote on the plane." Jess said, holding his breath waiting for her response.

"Oh, yeah. . . And?" Rory said, now wondering why she wrote the letter.

"And I wanted to make sure that you meant what you said." Jess stated.

Rory knew what he was talking about but she was trying to stall, "You know, I wrote it a while ago and there was a lot of stuff in it so you are going to have to refresh my mind."

"Rory, I think you know what I mean." Jess said, growing impatient. He was dying inside not knowing.

"Yeah I do."

"And . . ?" Jess prompted.

"And I meant it." Roy just decided to let her feelings out. She was giving up on caring. If he returned the feelings then that was great, wonderful, perfect even. And if he didn't, oh well. At least she finally admitted it and she wouldn't have to live with what if's.

"You mean what?" Jess asked. He wanted to be absolutely positive.

"I mean that I love you Jess." Rory whispered.

Jess sighed in relief. "So what does this mean for us?"

"I don't know. What do you want it to mean? Do you want to date? I am not going to be some floozy you just screw around with." Rory exclaimed a little louder than she should have. She began to blush when she saw that the people at the table next to them had turned to look at her.

Jess reached his hand across the table to hold hers. "Rory, of course you wouldn't just be some floozy. I care about you too much to treat you like crap. I could never do that to you. And as for dating you, I have wanted that since the day you called me Dodger. I never thought that it would happen, but I would definitely not be opposed to it."

"Really?" Rory said, unable to contain her smile.

"Yeah." Replied Jess.

Just then Josephine came carrying two plates of macaroni. "Here you two go. My don't we look happy. You remind me of me and my Zachary, bless his soul. We were so in love. Met as teenagers and were together til the day he died. He was the world to me. I looked at him the same way that you look at this young man." She said, causing Rory to blush. "Don't ever let that passion you feel now fade. How long have you been together?"

Jess looked at Rory, not actually sure if they were together. The look she gave him told him everything that he needed to know. "Um, about five minutes."

Josephine was astounded to hear this, oh no, you two have been in love for much longer than that. Maybe you didn't acknowledge it until five minutes ago, but I guarantee you, that spark has been there for quite some time. Well I'm sure you don't want to hear the ramblings of some crazy old lady so I'll leave you to your dinner."

"So we are together then?" Jess asked.

"Yeah, I think so. As long as you're okay with it." Rory answered.

"Believe me when I say that I am definitely okay with it." Jess said smiling.

Roy began to laugh. "I think that's the first time I have ever seen you smile, ever."

"I smile."

"No you don't, you smirk, that's not the same thing." Rory explained.

"Well I do smile."

"Oh sure, and you tell the truth to." Rory said, still laughing.

"Let's just eat. We can discuss my inability to smile at some other time, like never." Jess said, picking up his fork.

An hour later they finished dinner and were outside walking around, hand in hand with no destination in particular. They avoided the square because as per usual it was completely packed and instead wandered through small little streets. Eventually they came to a school building with a playground out back. They sat down at the bottom of a big slide and enjoyed the silence for a few minutes.

Rory was the first to say something, "You know what I just realized?"

"Huh?" Jess replied.

"Well first, I really need to get you a dictionary to demonstrate to you that there are words in the English language with more than one syllable. I realized that we have kissed exactly twice and both times it was me who initiated the kissage." Rory said. "Wait is kissage even a word? Well it is now. So what do you think about that?"

"I think that kissage makes a fine word."Jess said, knowing that wasn't what she was talking about.

"Jess. . . !!" Rory exclaimed, hitting him playfully on the arm.

"Yes?" Jess said, continuing to annoy her.

"You know what I mean." Rory said.

"Yeah I do. And I think that it is terrible. We have to do something about it." He said.

"Well seeing as you are the smart one what do you think we should do?" Rory said playing along.

"Hmmm. I think I can think of something." Jess said, leaning closer to her. "and since when am I the smart one?"

Ignoring the latter comment,Rory moved in towards him as well, "Would you care to tell, or show me?"

Jess didn't say anything, instead he closed the gap between them and kissed her. It was gentle but full of passion. Rory could have sworn she saw fireworks, literally. She would later find out that they were actually from the people in the square celebrating the last days of summer. After they separated she was glowing. They walked back into town hand in hand. He dropped her off at her door and kissed her good night. Once she got inside she ran upstairs to call her mom and tell her everything.


	13. A New School and A Budding relationship

Over the next week Rory and Jess spent most of their time together. The exchange program provided them with part time jobs around the village. Rory worked in a small market that sold fresh fruit and other products. Jess was placed in a restaurant. Whenever they were not working they were with each other. Soon the summer was over and they had to start at their new school.

"If this is what you go through every day to go to Chilton, you really must be crazy." Jess said, referring to the almost hour long bus ride he, Rory, Mary, and Derek were currently enduring. Their destination- Sulmona High School.

"Well if someone hadn't crashed my car..." Rory started but immediately regretted it upon seeing Jess's face fall. "Jess, I'm sorry. I shouldn't bring that up. You know I never blamed you for that, right?"

Luckily his sullen look soon turned into smirking. "Ror, that's over. It happened and I'm sorry that it did. But I can't help but think."

"Always a dangerous thing with you" she interrupted coyly.

"Anyway" he continued "Had that never happened, I never would have left. Meaning that I never would have come back at Sookie's wedding. Then you never would have kissed me. And if that hadn't happened, who knows how we would have turned out. So yeah, your car is totaled and you hurt your wrist. But in the end it sort of worked out. And I'm glad that we can joke about this now."

Rory didn't say anything but instead kissed him quickly.

"So Rory, after school I was going to go meet up with Angela and Carli. They just got back from vacation and I haven't seen them yet. Do you want to come with me? It's the first day so we shouldn't have to much homework." Mary asked. "Jess, you can come to if you want."

"Sure" they replied in unison.

"Why don't they ride the bus. Do they go to Sulmona or somewhere else?" Rory asked.

It was Derek's turn to answer. "Well both of them are native Italians. They have never been to America. They speak English pretty well, but their parents grew up in Pratola so they go to the high school for real Italians as they like to describe it. That was the school that I went to until high school. Its one town over and they take a different bus."

The rest of the ride passed in moderate silence. When they got to the school Rory and Jess went to the office and Mary and Derek went to their home room.

A middle-aged woman with slightly graying hair approached them. "Well hello, you must be Rory and I'm assuming that you are Jess. I'm Mrs. Capitelli, the principal. If you would just like to follow me into the conference room, we have a small orientation for new students such as yourselves. It's similar to what we tell the incoming freshman, but we figured that upperclassmen don't want to go to a freshman orientation so we give the talk to all transfer and exchange students on the first day of classes."

The two walked into the conference room, holding hands as they did so. Mrs. Capitelli followed them, noting the closeness these two shared, assuming they were more than just good friends.

"Now that everyone is here and seated I would like to begin by welcoming you to this school. You all come from different backgrounds. Here at Sulmona we welcome and embrace your differences. They are what make our school so special. Now I would like to go over some rules and then some other points that I would like to make."

Mrs. Capitelli went through the expectations and rules. They were basically what Rory and Jess had expected and been told already. After all, it was just like any other school. Then she told them about the special program for exchange students. There were two other students in the school who were exchange students. Katie was from Buffalo. Jacob was from Chicago. Jacob was a junior and Rory, Jess, and Katie were all seniors. Once a week, the four of them, along with one of the teachers from the language department, would go out for dinner. Gradually they would build up their Italian vocabulary until they were able to speak relatively well. She assured them that when living in another country, people are often amazed at how fast they pick up another language. They would also take part in weekend trips to sightseeing places. Then in March, they would study for one month at the Italian high school.

Finally the orientation was finished and they were allowed to go back to class. Mrs. Capitelli pulled Rory and Jess aside as they were leaving. "Now I'm assuming that because you two were holding hands, and come from the same hometown, you must know each other. I'm also assuming that this isn't just a friend situation. Am I right?"

Rory's face turned bright red and she mumbled a "yes."

"Well I know that you are teenagers and far be it for me to try and stop a budding relationship. But just so that you two are clear. There will be no "budding" on school property. We highly frown upon that sort of actions. I hope you understand what I'm implying. Holding hands is fine. A little kiss once in a while, maybe. We have had several students be severely reprimanded and even punished for further actions than those. So please just remember that." With that she ushered them out the door and closed it behind them.

When they were safely around the corner, they both burst out laughing. "Did she honestly tell us there was to be no..." Rory began, only to be cut off by a hysterical Jess.

"Budding...yeah, she did. I can't believe it. I don't think I have ever heard making out referred to as budding."

"Wait, no. I think she meant making out, and well, other stuff that isn't making out." Rory said, slightly embarrassed at what she was implying.

"Well may I bud with you before I go to class?" Jess asked, sarcastically and not waiting for an answer. He gave Rory a deep kiss, one that certainly would have merited reprimanding. Then just like that he walked off to his first class, Math.

Rory also had math first, but she was in Calculus, whereas Jess had opted for Statistics. They didn't see each other again until 5th period lunch. Together they compared their schedule.

"Calc, Economics, Study Hall, AP French, Lunch, AP English, Advanced Bio, Italian, and then Study Hall. But two days of the cycle I have gym instead of study Hall." Rory said.

It was Jess's turn, "Stats, Marine, Study Hall, Spanish, Lunch, AP English, Economics, Italian, and Study Hall. Gym is the same for me."

"That's great. So we have Lunch, English, Italian, and Study Halls and gym together. Hold on, how do we have study hall together third. That room was small, you definitely weren't in there." Rory was obviously confused.

"There can be more than one study hall. We are in different rooms." Jess said, then, leaning in closer so that only Rory could hear, he added, "So if you ever want to "bud" we can meet up in the library."

Rory blushed and attempted to change the subject. "So Mary, are there any senior privileges? Back at Chilton we had open campus."

"Well not really. They are pretty strict about stuff. We don't have a uniform so there is no special dress code. And well, there's not that much stuff around so they haven't ever given us an open campus. But some of the teachers are nice and let you out of class early. You can go to the library when you are free, or to the cafeteria if there is no lunch going on."

The rest of the day went on as usual. After school Rory, Mary, Jess, and Derek went to visit Angela and Carli. They lived next door to one another and they both happened to be sitting outside Angela's house.

"Idiot, I can't believe she did that. What the hell was she thinking?" A girl shouted in italian and Mary translated for the two Americans.

As they got closer to the girls, they realized that they were all very upset. "Whats the matter?" Mary asked. As the girl with curly brown hair streaked with red spoke in Italian, Derek translated.

"Do you know what Maria did? She started going out with Tony." Derek explained the situation while the girl (whom they now knew was Angela) vented to Mary.

"Well Angela always liked Tony. And Maria knew that. And for a while Tony liked Angela. They even went out. They seemed perfect, until he broke up with her. All because he thought he had feelings for Maria. They were all good and still on relatively friendly terms mainly because Maria swore she felt nothing for Tony. Apparently now they started going out and I'm pretty sure that it devastated Angela. She still had feelings for him as far as I know." Derek said.

"Wow, and I thought my life was confusing and complicated." Rory observed.

"Your life is." Jess retorted.

Rory stuck out her tongue. Rather than respond, Jess took that moment to kiss her. Soon they got absorbed in the moment. It wasn't until who knows how much later when Mary finally tapped them on the shoulder, that they broke apart.

"Why don't you three get going. I'll stay here with Angela." Mary said. "Could you just let my mom know I'll be home later. Tell her probably around 10."

"How are you going to get home?" Derek asked.

"I'll walk. I'm a big girl."

"Not by yourself. I'll either stay until you are ready to leave or I'll meet you back here at 10 and walk home with you." Derek said.

Mary began to get defensive. "You don't need to do that Derek. I'm all grown up now. I can take care of myself. Anyways, it's like a 20 minute walk tops. I walk it all the time. I think I'll manage."

"Yeah, but if anything happened to you I would shoot myself." Derek said, putting his arm around Mary's shoulder.

"Fine, if it will make you happy, would you like to stay?" Mary said, although she acted annoyed, secretly she was thrilled.

"Very happy. Thank you." Came his reply.

Rory and Jess walked home, taking the scenic route, in other words, finding a very good use for all the trees they could hide behind.) With Dean, Rory had never been one for PDA's. But with Jess she didn't care. It wasn't like he was trying to show off to the world who he had and what he was doing with her. It was more like, the feelings were so intense and kissing him felt so amazing, she needed to. She felt herself falling for Jess Mariano. She didn't know if it was a good thing, but she certainly wasn't going to protest.


	14. Ravioli Gardens

Chapter 13

Ravioli Gardens

So now starts the first of the actual factual updates. I can't sleep so I decided that I should write instead. Hope you like it!! and remember...Review!!

"So you get to spend the day at the Ravioli Gardens with your lover boy. That should be pretty fun." exclaimed a very giddy Lorelai to a somewhat sleepy Rory as they had their nightly chat before the younger of the Lorelai's went to bed.

"Well, if you would just stop calling it the Ravioli Gardens, it would be a lot more fun" joked Rory "I'm, sure it's pointless for me to tell you for the 15th time that they are the Tivoli Gardens. But yes it will be fun. I'm gonna be all touristy and take pictures and make Jess be in all of them and make sure that they are all off center and only catch the floor and part of his foot."

"Aww, well that's exactly how I taught you to take pictures so I am quite proud of you!" Lorelai laughed.

"Mom, I've got to get up really really early tomorrow so I am going to go to bed now. Love ya" said Rory, awaiting the protest she was sure her mother would attempt.

Much to her surprise, Lorelai simply said "Ok hun, I will talk to you later. Love you too."

Alarmed by the short answer, Rory quickly piped up "What, no attempt to get me to stay on the phone. Yesterday you told me the house had been overrun by mice and the only way to get rid of them is if I stayed on the phone with you forever."

"Yes, and as I remember you hung up on me. By the way, they set up camp in your room so I hope you like Italy a lot cuz I think you may be stuck there for a while. And while normally I would try and get you to stay on the phone I have had to go to th bathroom for about two hours now and I think my bladder is about to win the battle. So I'm gonna hang up now. Bye babe" and with that Lorelai was gone.

Since Rory had already talked to Jess earlier that night, she brushed her teeth and went to bed.

"Come on Jess Let's sing!!" exclaimed Rory as the bus began to pull away from the school. The trip was one of the excursions that were planned for the exchange students. Since it was such a small group, there were also members of the senior Art History class joining them. All together there were about 20 students and teachers on the bus. It was less than a month into the school year and this was their first trip. They had gone out to dinner twice and much to everyone's surprise most of them had picked up a decent amount of Italian, at least enough of the basic vocabulary that they could make small requests and have very short conversations.

"Let's not Rory" Jess said in a slightly agitated tone.

Rory obviously picked up on this and was offended "Sorry, what did I do to bother you?"

"_Ah crap, there I go again, making her feel bad"_ he thought and then explained "It's not you, buses just sometimes give me motion sickness and you bouncing and singing won't help. But I promise you that once we get off the bus you can bounce and sing all you want. Of course I still won't participate, but you certainly can."

"Well I guess we don't have to sing yet. Do you hate buses all that much?" She asked and she leaned her body up against his so that he had to wrap his one arm around her. It was a comfortable position, one that they often fell into while watching movies. They typically preferred as much contact with one another as possible.

"Yeah" and then realizing the position he was in and the fact that his girlfriend was laying in his arms he reconsidered. "Well, I used to. But I think I might be growing fond of them now."

The pair dozed off for a bit and woke up with about an hour left on their journey. "Hey Jess," Rory said upon seeing that he was awake, did I tell you that my mom kept calling this place Ravioli Garden?"

"No actually you didn't, but I did hear Luke yell something about growing ravioli the other day when I called him. Now it's all starting to make sense." he said.

For the rest of the ride they chatted about nothing in particular.

"Ok everyone. We have arrived at the garden. Will my four exchange students follow me." said their teacher, Mr. Gardone, as he led them off the bus. Mr. Gardone was the teacher who organized the exchange program. It was a true testimony to his character that even Jess thought he was a decent guy. Once off the bus, he explained how the day would go. They had to take a short tour of the garden which would last approximately 45 minutes. After that they had three hours to explore the area on their own. However, they were to keep in mind the paper that would be due reporting about this trip. They had to include some sights that were not a part of the tour so the three hours should be used wisely. The tour wasn't bad. Rory and Jess even managed to pay attention to almost all of it. Once it was over, Jess pulled on Rory's arm, leading her to an area that he had noticed on the tour and wanted to explore a but more.

"Wow, this place is so beautiful. I just can't get over it" said an awestruck Rory. Jess sat down on a somewhat secluded bench and Rory followed suit. "What are we doing?"she asked.

Leaning in to her and kissing her, Jess managed to pull a copy of a book out of his bag. "I was talking to Dolores yesterday and I told her about the trip. This morning before we left she handed me this" Jess showed Rory the book, which happened to be The Secret Garden.

"I love that book!! Jess, will you please read it to me?" Rory squealed.

"Fine, but remember this the next time you convince me not to skip gym so we can makeout." Jess said, smirk and all.

Eying Jess with a suspicious gaze she asked, "When have you ever tried to get me to do that? Are you convincing me with your other girlfriend?"

"No, just testing to see if that was something you would considering. Judging from your face I guess not. Huh, well I better start working on that other girl, maybe she'd be up for it" he joked, loving the half-shocked, half-amused look overcoming his girlfriend's face. He opened the book and began to read, happy to have Rory again edging closer to him and at last finding her comfortable spot and settling in.

"CHAPTER I, There Is No One Left. When Mary Lennox was sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle everybody said she was the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen. It was true, too. She had a little thin face and a little thin body, thin light hair and a sour expression. Her hair was yellow, and her face was yellow because she had been born in India and had always been ill in one way or another. Her father had held a position under the English Government and had always been busy and ill himself, and her mother had been a great beauty who cared only to go to parties and amuse herself with gay people. She had not wanted a little girl at all, and when Mary was born she handed her over to the care of an Ayah, who was made to understand that if she wished to please the Mem Sahib she must keep the child out of sight as much as possible. So when she was a sickly, fretful, ugly little baby she was kept out of the way, and when she became a sickly, fretful, toddling thing she was kept out of the way also. She never remembered seeing familiarly anything but the dark faces of her Ayah and the other native servants, and as they always obeyed her and gave her her own way in everything, because the Mem Sahib would be angry if she was disturbed by her crying, by the time she was six years old she was as tyrannical and selfish a little pig as ever lived. The young English governess who came to teach her to read and write disliked her so much that she gave up her place in three months, and when other governesses came to try to fill it they always went away in a shorter time than the first one. So if Mary had not chosen to really want to know how to read books she would never have learned her letters at all."

And they continued like that for over two hours. Finally, Rory looked at her phone and realized that they only had 30 minutes before they had to be back on the bus. Quickly, she stopped Jess mid sentence and explained that she needed to take a million pictures. "Starting with this one" she said suddenly while snapping a picture of Jess staring at the book in front of him. And so the rest of their time went. Rory dragged Jess on a speedy tour of the Garden. Though he protested the pictures at first, he gave in and even smiled, well, smirked is more like it, for a few pictures. At one of the prettiest fountains of the area, an elderly couple asked the two teenagers if they would like to be in a picture together. Rory handed the man her camera and they got into position. Years later, the photo would still be a favorite of both Rory and Jess. In it, Rory stands against Jess. All hands are interlocked. Rory's eyes are directed upwards, an obvious attempt to glimpse the boy standing behind her. There is no mistaking that his eyes are looking down at the girl who he is falling in love with. A quick glance might suggest poor timing on behalf of the cameraman, but closer examination reveals a love so rarely captured by film. 


End file.
